theological  ^cminavy, 

BV  811  .T39 

Taylor,  C.  1756-1823. 

Apostolic  baptism 


APOSTOLIC    BAPTISM 


FACTS  AND  EVIDENCES 


SUBJECTS  AND  MODE 


CHRISTIAN    BAPTISM 


BY    C  .  ^T  A  Y  L  O  R 


EDITOR  or  calmet"s  dictiosaky  op  the  bible 


WITH    THIRTEEN    ENGRAVINGS. 


NEW  YORK: 

B.  H,  BEVIER,  102  NASSAU  STREET. 

1843. 


Entered 

According  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  )'ear  1843,  by 

BENJAMIN    H.    BEVIER, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York, 


DEAN,  PRINTER,  2  ANN  STREET, 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTICE,  .....  5 

SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM, 13 

Origin  of  this  Discussion. — Jewish  and  Christian  Sympathies. — Feel- 
ings towards  Children. — Consecration. — Institution  of  Baptism. — 
Tertullian.—Origen.— Tradition.— Origen's  Family. — Distinction 
between  House,  Family,  and  Household. — Rules  of  Interpretation. 
— OtKos. — OiKia. — House. — Household.  — Infants. — Oi<co;.— Lydia. — 
Cornelius. — Onesiphorus. — Philippian  Jailor. — Stephanas. — Infant 
Baptism. — Church  Membership  of  Children. 

MODE  OF  BAPTISM,  .  .  .  .  .  .  109 

Importance  of  Truth. — Perversion  of  Terms. — BanT(j.—Ei>0anTu. — 
Banrto-^of.— Synonymous  Words.— Baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost. — 
Meaning  of  Baptism. — Corresponding  terms  in  different  languages. 
— Inferences. —  Overwhelming.  —  Submersion. — Immersion. — Bap- 
tism in  the  sense  of  Overwhelm. — Staining. — Pouring  or  Afi'usion. — 
Sprinkling. — Washing. — "  Doctrine  of  Baptisms." — Anabaptism. — 
"  Divers  Baptisms." — John's  Baptism. — Baptism  separate  from  Im- 
mersion.— Philip  and  the  Eunuch. — Baptism  in  Abyssinia. — Meta- 
phorical Scripture. — Cornelius. — Christian  Baptism  was  Pouring. 
— Baptizing  of  personsnaked. — Deaconesses. — Enon. — YSaraTToWa. 
— Hebrew  Christians. — Syrian  Church. — Greek  Church. — "  Buried 
in  Baptism." — Baptism  as  signifying  Death  and  Life.— Primitive 
Baptisteries. — Catacomb  at  Rome. — Ancient  pictorial  representa- 
tions of  Baptism.—"  Chapel  of  the  Baptistery,"  at  Rome. 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  ENGRAVINGS,  .  .  .  179 

BAPTISMAL  CEREMONIES,  .....  201 

CHAPEL  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY,  .  .  .  .  215 

CATALOGUE  OF  TEXTS, 219 


FACTS  AND  EVlDExNCES 


CHRISTIAN   BAPTISM. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTICE. 

"All  those  things  happened  for  Ensamples,  and  they  are  written 
for  our  Admonition  ;  that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more 
in  knowledge  and  judgment." 

The  Author  of  these  "  Facts  and  Evidences  on  the 
Subjects  and  Mode  of  Christian  Baptism"  has  concisely 
detailed  the  causes  of  his  work  in  the  preliminary  para- 
graphs to  the  ensuing  chapter  on  the  "  Subjects  of 
Baptism."  But  as  that  narrative  only  partially  applies 
to  the  present  edition  of  his  very  important  volume,  it 
is  requisite  to  delineate  the  alterations  which  have  now 
been  made  in  the  form  of  his  original  publication  ;  es- 
pecially as  this  edition  is  presented  to  the  Christian 
churches,  as  altogether  Mr.  Taylor's  own  researches  and 
arguments — for  the  Editor  did  not  deem  it  proper  to 
append  a  single  explanatory  note,  even  where  it  might 
have  tended  to  elucidate  the  subject. 

For  Mr.  Taylor's  immediate  and  protracted  investi- 
gation of  Christian  Archeeology,  in  reference  to  the  or- 
dinance of  Baptism,  the  result  of  which  appears  in  this 
volume,  we  are  indebted  to  a  discussion  between  himself 
and  a  Baptist  Deacon,  respecting  the  evangelical  authority 

i* 


INTRODUCTORY. 


of  the  Baptist  practice  in  prohibiting  all  persons  from 
the  Lord's  Table,  who  have  not  been  submersed  according 
to  their  practice  in  adult  age.  The  Baptist  Deacon  was 
perplexed  by  Mr.  Taylor's  "  Facts  and  Evidences"  In 
conformity  with  his  desire,  Mr.  Taylor  presented  him  a 
"  sketch  of  the  argument,"  that  it  might  be  confuted,  if 
any  of  the  Baptist  brethren  could  accomplish  that  work. 
But  they  all  preserved  a  most  profound  and  ominous 
silence  upon  the  subject.  After  a  long  period  had  elap- 
sed, several  attemj)ts  were  made  to  introduce  the  topic 
into  the  English  Baptist  Magazine,  thereby  to  give  the 
Baptists  the  most  eligible  and  advantageous  opportunity 
to  rebut  Mr.  Taylor's  "  Facts,"  and  to  disprove  his 
"  Evidences ;"  but  the  editor  and  his  consociates,  wisely 
for  themselves  and  their  exclusive  sectarian  dogmas, 
sternly  rejected  every  endeavour  to  elicit  a  public 
examination  of  the  Baptismal  controversy  in  that  pecu- 
liar aspect  within  their  own  ecclesiastical  boundary. 

In  consequence  of  their  unalterable  decision  not  to 
discuss  the  topic  with  Mr.  Taylor,  nor  even  to  admit  his 
statements  into  the  Baptist  Magazine,  the  editor  of  Cal- 
met's  Dictionary,  in  February,  1815,  published  a  pam- 
phlet, entitled  "  Facts  and  Evidences  on  the  Subject  of 
Baptism,  in  a  Letter  to  a  Deacon  of  a  Baptist  Church ; 
with  Two  Plates."  That  letter  was  restricted  entirely 
to  the  Mode  of  Baptism. 

About  two  months  after,  appeared  the  "  Second 
Letter"  to  a  Baptist  Deacon,  which  was  devoted  to  the 
Subjects  of  Baptism. 

Those  letters  excited  great  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
Poedobaptists,  who  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  novel 
"  Facts"  and  irresistible  "  Evidences"  which  Mr.  Taylor 
had  thus  arrayed  in  favour  of  "  Family  Baptism,"  and 
against  the  exclusive  interpretation  of  the  words  BAUTJl 
and  BAllTlUMOi:,  which  the  Baptists  have  endeavoured 
to  enforce  in  connection  with  the  Christian  ordinance. 
On  the  contrary,  the  Baptist  brethren  were  extremely 
disquieted  at  the  exhibition  of  Mr.  Taylor's  illustrations  ; 
especially  as  they  had  previously  been  adopted  and  vir- 
tually sanctioned  by  their  great  champion,  Robert  Rob- 
inson, in  his  "  History  of  Baptism."    But  they  cautiously 


INTRODUCTORY.  Vll 

abstained  from  any  direct  assault  upon  Mr.  Taylor's 
theory,  arguments  and  demonstrations. 

Therefore,  in  June,  1815,  the  editor  of  Calmct's  Dic- 
tionary published  his  "  Third  Letter  to  a  Deacon  of  a 
Baptist  Church,"  corroborating  his  opinions  in  reference 
both  to  the  subjects  and  the  mode  of  Baptism.  He  also 
united  his  two  previous  letters  with  it  in  the  same 
pamphlet,  and  prefixed  an  Introduction  narrating  the 
circumstances  through  which  his  disquisitions  were 
presented  to  general  notice.  He  also  included  those 
essays  which  had  been  transmitted  for  insertion  in  the 
Baptist  Magazine,  but  which  the  editor  had  excluded 
from  that  miscellany. 

In  April,  1816,  another  pamphlet  was  issued,  entitled 
"  Three  Additional  Letters,  being  the  Fourth,  Fifth,  and 
Sixth,  to  a  Late  Deacon  of  a  Baptist  Church.'''  With 
the  letters  was  combined  an  examination  of  Dr.  Ry- 
land's  Candid  Statement,  which  had  also  been  refused 
by  the  editor  of  the  Baptist  Magazine.  Those  letters 
not  only  discussed  the  two  primary  topics  of  the  Chris- 
tian ordinance  of  Baptism,  but  they  also  introduced 
several  other  collateral  themes. 

From  Mr.  Taylor's  prefatory  notice  to  the  "  Three 
Additional  Letters,"  one  paragraph  is  extracted. 

"The  former  letters  were  published  with  a  boncifide 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  Deacon  to  receive  such  an- 
swers as  might  effectually  confute  their  contents.  Up- 
wards of  a  year  has  elapsed,  and  no  answer  has  aj)- 
peared  !  Under  Providence,  the  Deacon  has  been  led 
to  change  his  religious  connection.  The  present  letters 
are  published  in  compliance  with  requests,  amounting  to 
commands,  from  the  most  respectable  quarters.  Hence 
the  writer  enjoys  the  satisfaction,  that  whatever  addi- 
tional strength  former  arguments  in  favour  of  Poedo- 
baptism  may  derive  from  his  views,  not  one  of  them  is 
in  any  respect  deteriorated,  but  retains  its  full  force  and 
effect  with  undiminished  authority.  Should  any  one 
think  proper  to  examine  these  Letters,  the  author  desires 
that  Facts  maybe  met  by  Facts;  and  while  he  in- 
treats  candour  for  himself,  for  his  '  Facts  and  Evidences^ 
he  desires  neither  grace  nor  favour." 


VIU  INTRODUCTORV. 

Another  year  passed  away,  and  with  the  exception  of 
a  short  essay  in  the  Baptist  Magazine  of  March,  1817, 
'•710  answer  appeared P'  Mr.  Taylor,  therefore,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  year  1817,  pubhshcd  another  pam- 
phlet, which  he  denominated  "  Concluding  Facts  and  Evi- 
dences on  the  subject  of  Baptism  ;"  from  the  Introduc- 
tion and  Preface  to  which,  the  two  ensuing  paragraphs 
arc  selected. 

'•  The  arguments  which  have  been  adduced  in  this 
discussion  of  the  question  of  Baptism  have  made  con- 
siderable impression,  not  only  on  thinking  Baptists,  but 
also  on  the  religious  public.  The  more  learned  Baptists 
now  confess  that  Infants  are  included  in  the  term  Oikos, 
family,  as  used  in  the  New  Testament ;  while  it  is  curi- 
ous to  observe  the  difficulties  to  which  those  are  reduced, 
who  contend  that  infants  are  excluded  from  the  term 
Family,  and  that  the  w^ord  must  be  restricted  to  adults. 
*/f  our  translators  had  employed  the  term  Family  instead 
of  the  words  House  and  Household,  the  sect  of  Baptists 
never  ivould  have  existed  /' 

"  If  the  Letters,  to  which  the  present  pages  are  the 
conclusion,  had  been  announced  as  a  treatise  on  Baptism, 
the  writer  would  have  been  liable  to  well-deserved  cen- 
sure for  their  disorder  and  want  of  arrangement.  Fiom 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the  confidential  conversations 
between  friends  which  have  been  recorded  are  unfa- 
vourable to  logical  order,  and  being  desultory,  are  dis- 
advantageous to  the  general  argument.  The  first  letter 
was  written  to  be  answered  ;  and  if,  instead  of  a  resolu- 
tion by  the  Baptist  Committee  to  disregard  it,  an  attempt 
had  been  made  to  meet  it,  probably  none  of  the  suc- 
ceeding letters  ever  would  have  appeared.  Some  ser- 
vice however  has  been  done  to  truth  by  their  arguments, 
and  the  religious  world  have  received  them  in  an  ex- 
tremely flattering  manner.  After  perusing  these  pages, 
the  reader  is  desired  to  consider  and  answer  this  ques- 
tion— '  When  the  Apostles  say  they  baptized  Houses  and 
V/iiOLE  Houses,  did  they  not  include  infants  in  the  sa- 
cred rite  T  " 

From  that  period,  the  year  1817,  it  is  believed  that 
Mr.  Taylor's  "  Facts  and  Evidences  on  the  Subjects 


INTRODUCTORY.  IX 

and  Mode  of  Christian  Baptism,"  have  been  neglected 
by  the  Baptists  ;  who  judged  that  it  was  preferable,  not 
to  force  out  any  more  memorials  of  Christian  anti- 
quity, from  a  scholar  who  had  devoted  much  of  his 
time  during  half  a  century  to  researches  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

When  however  it  was  proposed  in  New  York  some 
time  since  to  republish  those  letters,  it  was  instantly 
discovered,  that  to  issue  the  work  in  its  original  form 
would  include  all  the  disadvantages  and  imperfections 
to  which  the  editor  of  Calmet's  Dictionary,  in  the  par- 
agraph just  cited,  adverts.  After  due  deliberation,  it 
was  therefore  decided  to  remodel  the  work — neither  to 
change  Mr.  Taylor's  diction;  nor  to  alter  his  argu- 
ments ;  nor  to  omit  his  "  Facts  and  Evidences  ;"  nor  to 
interpolate  any  additional  matter — but  merely  to  con- 
dense his  labours,  to  cancel  his  frequent  repetitions  and 
redundancies,  to  reduce  the  confused  mode,  in  which 
the  subjects  are  commingled  and  severed,  into  method, 
according  to  the  general  topics  ;  and  thus  to  give 
to  his  "  Facts"  their  essential  weight,  to  his  *'  Evi- 
dences" their  just  preponderance,  to  his  arguments  all 
their  force,  and  to  his  illustrations  all  their  evangelical 
resplendency. 

To  accomplish  this  design,  the  work  is  subdivided 
into  two  general  chapters. — I.  The  "  Subjects  of  Bap- 
tism"— and  II.  The  "  Mode  of  Baptism."  To  which  is 
added  the  gallery  of  engraved  representations  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  ordinance  of  Baptism  was  ori- 
ginally administered.  Some  of  the  engravings  which 
Mr.  Taylor  had  introduced  are  excluded,  because  they 
were  merely  duplicates  of  those  which  are  exhibited 
at  the  end  of  this  volume. 

The  desultory  manner  in  which  the  letters  were  com- 
posed rendered  it  a  very  difficult  task  to  "  set  in  order," 
the  arguments,  criticisms,  and  incidental  remarks  and 
statements  which  are  scattered  from  one  end  of  an 
octavo  volume  of  330  pages  to  the  other  ;  and  to  bring 
them  into  such  juxtaposition,  that  they  may  produce 
their  legitimate  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
But  the  attempt  most  carefully  has  been  made,  and  this 


INTRODUCTORY. 


volume  now  presents  the  "  Facts  and  Evidences  on  the 
Subject  of  Baptism,"  in  as  consistent  an  arrangement 
of  the  materials  as  could  possibly  be  effected,  in  con- 
formity with  the  design  of  adopting  the  ''First"  and 
the  "  Second"  Letters,  as  the  text  with  which  all  the 
other  portions  of  the  work  should  be  incorporated. 

There  were  two  great  difficulties  appertaining  to  the 
revision  of  the  work,  and  its  publication  in  the  present 
form.  The  original  was  printed  with  such  numberless 
errors,  that  for  a  London  work,  the  incorrectness  of 
the  typography  is  a  genuine  anomaly — and  the  Letters 
also,  having  been  published  separately,  contain  not  one 
particle  of  reference,  by  which  the  editor  could  be 
guided  ;  thus  involving  great  additional  labour  and  per- 
plexity. To  remedy  that  defect,  a  catalogue  in  order 
of  all  the  texts  of  Scripture  explained  in  this  discus- 
sion is  now  embodied  ;  and  a  Topical  Index  has  also 
been  compiled,  that  directs  to  every  distinct  subject 
which  is  noticed  throughout  the  volume. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  the  ensuing  work, 
as  to  its  contents,  is  precisely  the  ''  Facts  and  Evidences 
on  the  Subject  of  Baptism,"  as  they  were  at  first  pre- 
sented by  the  "editor  of  Calmet's  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible,"  It  having  been  decided  that  no  additions 
should  be  made  to  the  original  work,  some  annotations, 
which  might  profitably  have  been  subjoined,  were  ex- 
cluded. Nothing  is  interpolated,  except  where  from 
the  dislocation  of  the  paragraph  or  sentences,  from  one 
letter  to  the  others,  it  was  essential  to  insert  the  neces- 
sary connecting  word  or  phrase,  that  the  arguments, 
or  facts,  or  inferences,  or  quotations  might  cohere. 

With  this  explanation,  the  volume  is  submitted 
to  the  Poedobaptist  Churches,  with  the  full  conviction 
that  it  contains  more  important  information  upon  the 
"  Subjects  and  Mode  of  Baptism"  than  ever  yet  has 
been  published  in  the  United  States  ;  and  that  as  no 
person  in  Britain  hitherto  has  attempted  to  disprove 
these  "  Fads,"  and  to  deny  these  "  Evidences,"  during 
nearly  thirty  years,  so  the  researches  of  Mr.  Taylor 
will  remain  irrefragable  proof  amounting  to  moral 
demonstration ;    that  the   dogma   which   the   Baptists 


INTRODUCTORY.  XI 

promulge — that  Bamo)  and  Bamiafiog,  when  applied  to 
the  Christian  ordinance,  mean  plunging  under  water 
only ;  and  that  Oi^og  and  Oima,  when  used  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  "  include  only  adults"  is  not  more 
substantial  than  the  "  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision." — 
Therefore,  their  practice  in  excluding  from  "  the  com- 
munion of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  those  be- 
lievers whom  at  the  same  time  they  acknowledge  to 
be  "  beloved  of  God,  sanctified  in  Jesus,  and  called  to 
be  saints,"  is  an  absurd  and  anti-evangelical  perversion 
and  infraction  of  the  law  of  Christian  charity — while 
their  sectarian  proscription  of  every  disciple  of  the 
Redeemer,  except  the  members  of  their  own  denomi- 
nation, from  the  divinely  appointed  external  institute 
of  brotherly  love,  and  the  sacramental  symbols  of 
church-fellowship,  is  altogether  opposed  to  "  the  unity 
of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace  ;"  and  moreover,  is  a 
lamentable  schismatic  impediment  to  the  extension  and 
triumph  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

New  York, 
4  May,  1843. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM, 


Origin  of  this  Discussion. — Jewish  and  Christian  Sympathies. — Feel- 
ings  towards  Children. — Consecration. — Institution  of  Baptism. — 
TertuUian.— Origen.—  iradition.— Origen's  Family.— Distinction  be- 
tween House,    Family,  and    Household. — Rules  of  Interpretation. — 

OiKOi. —  Ou-in.— House. —  Household. —  Infants. —  Oiko;. —  Lydia 

Cornelius.—  Onesiphorus.—  Philippian   Jailor.— Stephanas.—  Infant 
Baptism. — Church  Membership  of  Children. 

The  occasion  of  the  following  illustrations  of  Baptism  was 
this.  A  gentleman  not  a  Baptist,  who  had  recently  married 
a  lady  from  a  Baptist  Church,  desired  occasional  communion 
with  that  Church.  The  Deacon  pleaded  a  conscientious  ne- 
gative. The  Pastor,  less  rigid  than  the  Deacon,  struck  with 
his  scrupulosity,  requested  his  reconsideration  of  the  subject, 
putting  into  his  hands  certain  tracts  for  that  purpose.  During 
the  Deacon's  perusal  of  those  tracts,  the  writer  of  these  pages 
called  on  him.  The  Deacon  had  in  his  hands  Mr.  Booth's 
"  Posdobaptism  Examined."  That  work  gave  rise  to  a  con- 
versation which  ended  in  saying — "  Do  not  tell  me  of  Mr. 
Booth  ;  tell  me  of  Scriptural  authority.  If  you  wish  to  lui- 
derstand  the  subject,  consult  Scripture."  But  on  examination, 
Holy  Writ  was  found  to  declare  in  favour  of  Infant  Baptism  ! 
A  sketch  of  the  argument  was  submitted  to  those  whom  the 
Deacon  respected  as  able  casuists.  It  remained  unanswered. 
After  long  waiting,  it  was  supposed  that  an  appeal  to  the 
Baptist  denomination  must  meet  with  attention.  While  look- 
ing for  an  opportunity,  an  article  by  Dr.  Ryland  appeared  in 
the  Baptist  Magazine,  of  which  an  examination  was  transmit- 
ted to  the  editor  of  that  miscellany,  which  was  disregarded. 
In  a  subsequent  number  of  that  work  was  inserted  a  challenge 
by  the  late  Andrew  Fuller  in  these  words — "  Why  is  it  that 
Dr.  Ryland's  '  Candid  Statement'  is  entirely  kept  out  of  view  ? 
Let  its   evidence  be  fairly  met   and  answered,  in  the   Siune 

2 


14  SUDJKCTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

candid  spirit  in  which  it  is  wrilten."  In  consequence  of  that 
challeriffc,  some  aiticlfs  were  sent,  but  they  were  returned, 
witli  a  denial  of  insertion  in  the  "  Baptist  iMagazine." 

These  researches  were  intended  to  meet  objections  against 
*'  the  communion  of  saints,"  and  were  strictly  defensive.  If 
any  one  should  examine  these  pages  with  a  view  to  their  con- 
futation, as  they  contain  only  "Facts  and  Evidencks,"  the 
facts  should  be  met  with  opposite  facts  :  and  these  evidences 
by  contrary  evidences.  For  it  is  perfectly  absurd  to  discuss 
any  question  argumentatively,  till  all  the  facts  and  evidences 
on  which  it  rests  are  before  us.  The  writer  feels  the  neces- 
sity of  beseeching  the  candour  of  the  reader  for  himself — but 
as  for  liis  Facts,  they  await  every  attack  with  firmness,  and 
willingly  braA-e  the  utmost  efforts  both  of  learning  and  of 
ignorance. 

The  argmnent  is  brought  to  this  point. — The  Old  Testa- 
ment writers  use  the  term  IIousi:,  in  the  sense  oi  fundi y, 
with  a  special  reference  to  Infants — the  New  Testament 
writers  use  the  term  House  exactly  in  the  same  sense  as  the 
Old  Testament  writers — therefore ;  when  the  New  Testa- 
ment writers  say  that  they  "  baptized  houses"  they  mean  to 
say,  that  they  "  baptized  infants." 

Of  all  the  arts  of  logic,  there  is  none  I  admire  more  than 
a  well-managed  sophism  ;  a  proposition  that  presents  the 
semblance  of  truth,  but  is  essentially/^/^e.  Take  an  instance 
from  Booth,  which  includes  the  very  essence  of  the  argu- 
mems  against  Posdobaptism.  "  To  imagine  that  the  first  pos- 
itive rite  of  religious  worship  in  the  Christian  Church  is  left 
in  so  vague  a  state  as  Poedobaptism  supposes,  is  not  only  con- 
trary to  the  analogy  of  Divine  proceedings  in  similar  cases,  but 
renders  it  morally  impossible  for  the  bulk  of  Christians  to 
discern  the  real  ground  on  which  the  ordinance  is  adminis- 
tered.— An  ui\lettered  man  must  become  a  disciple  of  those 
who  are  the  humble  pupils  of  Jewish  Rabbis,  of  the  writings 
of  the  Talmud  ;  for  it  is  thence  only  he  is  able  to  learn,  that 
the  children  of  proselytes  were  baptized  along  with  their 
parents,  when  admitted  members  of  the  Jewish  Church:  and, 
thence  also  he  must  infer  that  our  Lord  condescended  to  borrow 
of  his  enemies  on  important  ordinance  (f  religious  u)or ship  for 
his  own  disciples." — That  our  Lord  condescended  to  borrow 
of  John  Baptist  "  an  important  ordinance  of  religious  worship 
for  his  own  disciples,"  is  true  ;  but  I  never  knew  before  that 
.John  was  an  "  enemy"  of  Jesus.  If  by  "  enemies  of  Jesus," 
the  Jews  of  that  age  are  meant,  though  I  deny  that  our  Lord 


SUBJECTS   OF   BAPTISM.  15 

borrowed  Baptism  of  them,  since  they  practiced  only  immer' 
Stan  ;  yet  I  would  assk,  did  not  our  Lord  condescend  to  borrow 
of  them  in  that  important  ordinance  of  religious  worsliip,  bis 
sacred  supper  ? —  and  can  any  indettered  man  thoroughly 
comprehend  that  service  without  5(.'mi?acquainta'ice  with  Je.v- 
ish  learning  1  Can  he  so  much  as  discern  the  "  real  giound" 
of  the  Apostle's  language,  J  Cor.  v.  7.  8.  "  Purge  out  there- 
ibrc  the  old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump — therefore 
let  us  keep  the  feast,  not  with  old  leaven,  neither  with  the 
leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness,  but  Avith  the  unleavened 
bread  of  sincerity  and  truth  ?" — Who  can  adequately  under- 
stand this  reference,  unless  he  have  some  acquaintance  with 
the  pains  taken  by  the  Jews  to  cleanse  their  houses  from  lea- 
ven ?  How  many  other  things  are  there  in  Christianity,  on 
which  an  unlettered  man  needs  almost  perpetual  assistance  ? 

Our  Lord  by  birth,  by  nation,  and  by  religious  ordinances 
was  a'  Jew.  His  gospel  was  first  offered  to  Jews  by  descent ; 
and  Judaism  was  the  basis  on  which  the  Redeemer  founded 
his  religion  : — but  it  does  not  follow  that  the  spirit  of  the  two 
dispensations  was  the  same.  On  the  contrary,  their  difter- 
ences  are  striking  and  essential.  Some  things,  which  Juda- 
ism held  sacred  and  binding,  the  gospel  held  with  a  great  lat- 
itude ;  and  allowed  the  human  will  to  follow  its  own  determi- 
nation concerning  them. — Nothing  could  be  more  positively 
enjoined  by  divine  authority,  than  the  distinction  of  meats  ; 
yet  the  Apostle  leaves  it  to  the  choice  of  converts  to  adopt  it 
or  not :  Rom.  xiv.  15  ;  "  God  hath  received  him  who  eateth," 
says  he,  although  God  had  ordered  such  transgressors  to  be 
cut  off.  Neither  was  the  distinction  of  days  less  authorita- 
tively enacted  ;  yet  Paul  dispenses  v/ith  the  observance  in 
those  who  objected  to  it.  What  was  this,  but  leaving  in  quite 
as  vague  a  state  as  Poedobaptism  supposes,  most  important 
points  of  the  divine  law  ? — or  if  Poedobaptism  be  left  in  the 
same  state  of  liberty,  how  is  it  '^  contrary  to  the  analogy  of  Di- 
vine proceedings  in  similar  cases  V 

There  are  other  instances  which  affect  the  closest  connec- 
tions of  the  heart  and  life,  and  are  more  nearly  related  to  the 
main  purpose  of  our  present  inquiry. 

Moses  forbad  the  "  taking  of  the  daughters  of  the  land, 
unto  thy  sons  for  wives, — lest  ihey  make  thy  sons  go  a  whoring 
after  other  gods."  Exod.  xxiv.  16.  He  admits  not  the  slight- 
est ray  of  hope,  "  that  thy  sons  may  convert  their  wives  to 
the  worship  of  the  God  of  Israel." — He  is  tormented  by  fear  ; 
jealousy  corrodes,    and  despair  confounds   him. — But  what 


16  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

says  the  Gospel  in  a  similar  case  ?  With  what  a  noble  con- 
sciousness of  superiority  over  all  other  religions,  it  commands 
the  very  contrary  !  "  How  knowest  thou,  O  wife,  whether 
thon  shalt  save  thy  husband  ? — Or  how  knowest  thou,  O 
man,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  wife  ?"  i  Cor.  vii.  16. 
Hope  triumphs  here  !  Despair  is  banished  !  and  the  same 
feeling  is  cherished  by  another  sacred  writer,  who  strongly 
advises  wives  to  exemplary  conduct,  1  Peter  iii.  1 .  ;  *'  that  if 
any  obey  not  the  word,  they  may  without  the  word  be  won 
hy  the  conversation  of  their  wives." — Why  did  not  these  Apos- 
tles, like  Moses,  dread  the  heathenish  consequences  of  such 
abhorrent  connections  ?  Because  they  served  a  dispensation 
of  Grace,  not  of  terror :  they  knew  their  master's  mind  : — 
"  Whosoever  is  not  against  us,  is  for  us." 

We  have  a  practical  illustration  and  instance  of  the  jeal- 
ousy of  Judaism  in  the  conduct  of  the  priest  Ezra  ;  who  caused 
the  "  chief  priests,  the  Levitc  •;,  and  alt,  Israel  to  sweaj^,  that 
they  would  put  away  their  ioreign  wives — and  they  made 
proclamation  throughout  Judah  and  Jerusalem — and  allowed 
only  three  days — and  called  the  people  over — after  the  house 
of  their  fathers,  and  all  of  them,  by  their  names,  and  ex- 
pelled their  foreign  wives,  even  those  hy  whom  they  had  chil- 
dren." Ezra  X.  3 — 44.  But  what  does  Christianity  direct 
in  similar  cases  ?  1  Cor.  vii.  12.  "  If  any  brother  hath  a 
wife  that  believeth  not,  and  she  be  pleased  to  dwell  with  him, 
LET  HIM  NOT  PUT  HER  AWAY.  And  the  womau  who  hath  a 
husband  that  believeth  not,  if  he  be  pleased  to  dwell  with  her 
— LET  HER  NOT  LEAVE  HIM."  What  a  iiobJe  triumph  of  the 
kindness  of  Christ  over  the  severe  correctness  of  the  Mosaic 
law  !  The  gospel  disturbs  no  domestic  harmony  :  it  dissolves 
no  happily  formed  connection  :  it  finds  the  bands  of  love  tied  ; 
and  in  the  name  of  that  God  who  is  love,  it  sanctifies,  and  by 
sanctifying  strengthens  them. 

It  would  be  strange  if  this  most  sympathizing  feeling, 
which  studies  the  affections  and  love  of  the  parents,  were  re- 
pugnant to  their  children.  In  this,  the  gospel  is  opposed 
to  the  law.  Timothy  was  the  son  uf  a  Jewess  by  a  Greek 
father  :  Acts  xvi.  1. ;  he  had  not  received  in  his  infancy  the 
divinely  appointed  sign  of  the  Abrahainic  covenant,  circum- 
cision ;  because  he  was  allied  to  the  Abrahamic  descent,  by 
half-blood  only.  The  balance  between  holiness  and  unholi- 
ness  was  equipoised  in  him  : — the  unhoUnf.ss  of  his  father 
prevailed  against  the  holiness  of  his  mother,  and  Judaical 
scrupulosity  reprobated  Timothy  as  unclean.     Not  so  the 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  17 

law  of  liberty ;  not  so  the  attractive  kindness  of  the  blessed 
Jesus.  The  Apostle  advises,  whenever  the  bal.aice  is  even 
between  holiness  and  unholincss,  to  incline  to  the  most  favour- 
able *de  :  exclude  none  who  do  not  exclude  themselves. 
"  For  the  unbdicving  husband  is,  has  been,  his  intercourse 
rendered  holy  to  the  believing  wit'e,  and  the  unbeiieving  wife 
is,  has  been  rendered  hohj  to  the  believino- husband  :  else  were 
the  issue  of  such  intercourse  unholy,  as  under  the  law  it  was, 
but  now  under  the  gospel,  it  is  holy."  1  Cor.  vii.  14.  Di- 
rectly contrary  to  the  dogmata  of  the  Jewish  Rabbins,  con- 
trary to  the  decisions  of  Ezra  and  of  the  prophets,  and  con- 
trary to  the  case  of  Timothy. 

Did  this  accord  with  the  sentiments  of  our  Divine  Mas- 
ter I  Did  HE  thus  favourably  regard  and  accept  what  his 
nation  pronounced  unclean  ?  It  was  prophecied  of  him,  that 
in  his  name  should  the  Gentiles  trust ; — that  he  should  not 
"  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax  :" — that 
as  "  the  good  shepherd  he  should  carry  the  lambs  in  his 
arms" — did  his  personal  conduct  justify  the  language  of  pro- 
phecy ?  Three  of  the  Evangelists  instruct  us  by  instances 
of  this  ;  Mat.  xix.  13  ;  "  Then  were  brought  to  him  little 
children,  that  he  should  put  his  hands  on  them  and  pray  ;  and 
the  disciples  rebuked  them.  But  Jesus  said,  suffer  little 
children,  and  forbid  thkm  not,  to  come  unto  me;  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  he  laid  his  hands  on 
them."  Mark  expresses  our  Eord's  feelings,  by  saying ; 
Mark  x.  13.  "he  was  much  displeased" — at  the  Jewish  in- 
sensibility of  his  disciples.  That  Evangelist  adds,  "  Jesus 
took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them,  and 
blessed  them."  Luke  describes  them  as  infu/Us.  All  the 
Evangelists  agree  in  saying  that  our  Lord  compared  his  real 
disciples,  those  who  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  worthily, 
to  such  uifants.  What  pious  mind,  by  any  reluctance  in 
showing  favour  to  infants,  would  incur  the  risk  of  this  "  much 
displeasure"  of  our  blessed  Lord  ?  Nor  is  this  the  only 
lesson  the  disciples  received  from  their  Master,  by  means  of 
little  children :  for  he  tells  them  explicitly,  Mat.  xviii.  3. 
"  Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children, 
ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  : — whosoever 
shall  offend,  give  occasion  of  scandal,  or  cause  to  trip,  one 
of  these  little  ones  who  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for 
him  lliat  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  he  were 
cast  into  the  depth  of  the  sea-"     So  then,  these  little  ones 

2* 


18  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

were  BELIEVERS  in  Jesus,  and  the  severest  punishment  await- 
ed whoever  despised  or  dishonoured  llieni. 

A  pious  attention  to  littlh  ones  has  the  proniisL^  of  a 
blessino-.  Mat.  x.  42.  "  Whosoever  shall  give  a  cup  of  cold 
Avaler  to  one  of  these  little  ones  in  the  name  of  a  disciple, 
shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward!"  The  little  onks  then 
were  capalde  of  being  DISCIPLES  : — liow  in  defiance  to  this 
text,  can  any  insist,  that  when  our  Lord  commands  his  Apos- 
tles to  "  go  and  disciple  all  nations,"  he  absolutely  excludes 
little  ones  ? 

But  the  conduct  of  tlie  Apostles,  in  repellino  children  from 
the  affectionate  arms  of  the  condescending  Saviour,  was  pre- 
cisely according  to  their  Jewish  feelings.  'J'he  old  leaven  of 
Judaism,  with  unabated  fermentation,  actuated  the  Pharisees  : 
Mat.  xxi.  15;"  who  when  they  saw  the  children  crying  in 
the  temple,  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David!  were  sore  dis- 
pleased ;  and  said  unto  him,  Hearest  thou  what  these  say  ? 
and  Jesus  answered  them  ;  have   ye   never  read  out  ok  the 

MOUTHS  OF    babes    AND     SUCKLINGS     THOU     HAST     PERFECTED 

PRAISE  ?"  A  Striking  picture  this,  of  the  powerful  distinction 
between  the  starched  sup})orters  of  the  law  !  and  the  mild, 
condescending,  benign  tendernesses  of  the  Son  of  God. 

After  these  repeated  reproofs,  admonitions,  and  instructions 
of  their  divine  master,  what  could  be  the  conduct  of  the  Apos- 
tles towards  little  ones  ? — could  they  look  with  askance  eye 
on  children  ? — could  //<py  professionally  sanctify  to  the  service 
of  God,  such  a  man  as  Simon  Magus,  because  he  could  make 
a  credible  profession  of  his  faith — while  they  refused  the 
token  of  Gospel  devotion  to  little  children  who  were  disciples 
of  Christ  ?  Could  they  baptize  an  old  conjuror,  hardened  in 
guilt  by  the  confirmed  habit  of  many  years,  and  actually  "  in 
the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  the  bonds  of  iniquity,"  but  repel 
from  the  sign  of  consecration  to  Christ,  those  babes  and 
SUCKLINGS,  ow;  of  whose  mouths  GOD  himself  had  perfected 

PRAISE  ? 

The  term  consecration  requires  to  be  explained. — Consec- 
ration is  a  setting  apart  from  an  ordinary  or  profane  use  or 
purpose,  to  which  a  ])erson  or  thing  has  been  accustomed  — 
to  a  particular  use  or  purpose  — usually  in  relation  to  the 
Deity.  The  sign  or  mark  of  such  consecration  anciently  was 
anointincr.  So  Jacob  anointed  the  stone  at  Bethel,  Gen. 
xxviii.  18  :  so  the  implements  of  the  tabernacle  were  anointed, 
Exod.  xxix  :  Aaron  was  anointed  to  the  priest's  office  ;  1  Sam. 
x.  1,  Saul  and  David  were   anointed   to  the  regal  office,  1 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  19 

Sam.  xiv.  1.  Prophets  also  were  anointed.  But  not  all 
consecrated  persons  were  anointed  ;  for  the  daughter  of  .Tep- 
thah  was  consecrated,  yet  Ave  cannot  tliink  she  was  anointed ; 
and  .'^anuiel,  who  was  consecrated  I'roni  his  infancy,  was  not 
anovntcd. 

Now  whatever,  or  whoever  was  set  apart  from  a  former 
character  and  destination,  and  received  a  new  character  and 
destination  as  marked  by  anointing,  without  violating  the 
metaphor,  might  be  said  to  die  to  former  connections  and  self, 
and  to  begin  a  new  life  marked  by  new  functions  ; — which  is 
the  very  acceptation  and  import  of  baptism.  For  this  purpose 
our  Lord  was  baptized :  not  to  put  away  sin  ;  but  to  mark 
his  passing  over  from  his  former  life,  in  which  he  had  paid 
some  attention  to  worldly  concerns,  as  appears  from  his  sub- 
jection to  his  parents  at  Nazareth,  Mark  vi.  3  :  and  from  his 
being  described  as  "  tlte  carpenter''''  by  those  who  well  knew 
his  origin  and  previous  deportment.  But  he  enters  on  a  new 
life — he  commences  a  new  character — he  is  publicly  conse- 
crated to  the  great  purposes  of  his  mission  :  Acts  x.  38,  he 
becomes  "  the  man  whom  God  had  anointed  with  the  Holy 
Ghost :"  Acts  iv.  27,  "  thine  holy  child  Jesus,  whom  thou 
hast  anointed.''''  His  followers  in  some  humble  degree  re- 
sembled him  :  for  the  Apostle  John  writes  to  those  who  had 
received  an  unction,  anointing,  from  the  Holy  One,  1  John  ii. 
27  :  and  who  were  taught  by  this  anointing.  With  this  doc- 
trine Paul  agrees,  when  he  says,  2  Cor.  i.  21  :  "  He  who 
hath  anointed  us,  is  God  : — who  hath  also  sealed  us."  When 
Avere  those  disciples  anointed,  if  not  at  their  baptism  ? — and 
for  Avhat  purpose,  if  not  in  token  of  their  future  devotion  to 
the  Christian  name  and  profession  ?  They  were  not  anointed 
Avith  oil ;  it  follows,  that  baptismal  water  or  the  baptismal 
service  became  the  sign  or  the  occasion  of  their  consecration  ; 
and  this  dedication  to  God  is  the  most  simple,  most  direct, 
and  most  perspicuous  notion  we  can  form  of  baptism. 

Baptism  was  instituted  from  heaven  by  the  ministry  of  John 
the  Baptist.  Did  John  the  Baptist  dedicate,  or  consecrate, 
those  Avhom  he  baptized  ?  Yes  ;  for  he  caused  them  to 
pledge  themselves  to  a  new  life  and  to  devote  themselves  to 
the  practice  of  holiness. 

Did  the  Apostles,  avIio  followed  John  in  baptism,  follow 
him  also  in  this  ?  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it  ;  though  by 
Avhtit  form  of  Avords  they  consecrated  or  devoted  those  Avhom 
they  baptized  does  not  appear.  1  suppose  it  Avas  in  the 
name  of  the  God  of  Israel,  or  Jehovah  ;  of  Avhich   I  take  the 


20  SUBJECTS  OF   BAPTISM. 

subsequent  form  of  "  Fatlier,  Son,  arul  Holy  Ghost,"  to  be  a 
mure  explicit  renderiri<^,  fur  the  use  of  the  Cicntiles,  or  in  our 
Lord's  words,  "  all  nations."  The  Apostles  had  had  long  and 
oxlensive  practice  in  l)aptism  ;  lor  by  them  "  Jesus  made  and 
baptized  more  disciples  than  John."  They  were  under  the 
immediate  eye  ol'  their  master  : — they  were  familiar  with  the 
subject : — they  were  habituated  to  the  service  : — they  knew 
when,  where,  how,  and  to  whom,  to  administer  it.  Very 
inconsistent  therefore  does  it  appear,  to  deny  the  original 
instiliition  of  a  rite  so  long  adndnistercd,  previous  to  its  en- 
largement and  universal  extension,  as  a  Christian  ordinance  ; 
— a  rile  wliicJi  had  been  among  the  daily  ministrations  of  the 
Apostles  during  several  years. 

By  his  final  instructions,  our  Lord  extended  the  application 
of  this  rite  commensurate  with  his  commission  to  the  Apostles 
for  preaching  the  gospel,  to  all  nations.  No  longer,  said 
he,  confine  your  teachings  to  Jiidea,  to  Samaria,  to  Galilee  ; 
carry  them  over  all  the  earth,  wherever  are  souls  to  be  saved. 
No  longer  consecrate  to  the  true  God,  by  the  rite  of  baptism, 
the  inhabitants  of  this  land  only  :  include  all  men  in  your 
Christian  affection,  and  dedicate  them  to  the  name  and  honour 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost;  whether  "Jew 
or  Gentile,  Barbarian  or  Scythian,  bond  or  free  :  that  the 
religion  of  the  cross  may  be  all,  and  in  all."  What  special 
enactments  could  the  Apostles  need  for  their  direction,  after 
years  of  practice,  guided  by  their  Lord  himself?  ^Vhat  cases 
of  nice  discrimination  could  they  now  require  instructions 
how  to  treat — they  who  had  received  his  commands  on  the 
subject.  Mat.  xxviii.  19.  "  Teach  ai.l  nations,  as  you  have 
taught  the  Jews  :  baptize  all  nations,  as  you  have  baptized 
the  Jews  ;"  is  their  unlimited  commission. 

Those  who  w^ere  baptized  by  John  and  liy  the  Apostles, 
were  voluntkeics.  They  left  their  houses,  and  came  and 
solicited  the  rite ;  but  all  might  come  to  the  Jordan  who 
pleased.  Those  who  staid  at  home  declined  the  rite  :  no 
force  compelled  them  to  come  :— was  it  possible  that  there 
should  be  any  repulsive  force  acting  against  those  who  did 
come  ? 

"  Thy  people  shall  be  willing,  in  the  day  of  thy  power." 
Luke  xvi.  16  ;  they  "  pressea"  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ; 
Mat  xi.  1 2,  they  "  loak  it  by  force  ;"  Did  those,  who  thus 
vehemently  solicited  consecration  to  God,  restrict  that  conse- 
cration to  their  own  persons  ?  Did  Jewish  parents,  who 
knew  that  "  the  chUdreri  of  proselytes  were  baptized  with  their 


SUBJECTS  or   BAPTISM.  21 

parents"  never  think  of  bringing-  their  own  children  to 
be  baptized  with  themselves  ?  Did  those  vokmteers  from 
among  the  heathen,  who  knew  that  chihiren  were  consecrated 
to  some  of  their  gods  by  baptism, — but  who  dedicated  their 
own  persons  to  the  sacred  Trinity — withhold  from  the  Chris- 
tian rite,  those  whom  they  most  earnestly  desived  should  be 
kept  from  the  pollution  of  idolatry — E plies,  vi.  4  ;  and 
"  brought  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord"  ? 
Or  rather,  did  they  not,  by  the  earliest  possible  consecration 
of  them  to  the  Holy  Trinity ,y«;e5'^a// their  forcible  consecration 
to  idols  ?  Did  they  not  by  anticipation  render  impossible  that 
Avhich  they  so  much  dreaded  1 

Is  it  asked,  "  why  then  did  not  our  Lord  enact  that  all 
young  children  should  be  baptized  ?"  I  answer,  because  the 
gospel  was  no  local,  national,  or  partial  religion,  like  the 
Jewish  ;  but  was  to  be  promulgated  all  over  the  world.  It 
was  to  be  received,  by  choice  ;  but  Jews  had  no  choice  whether 
they  would  be  born  of  their  nation,  or  not.  When  one  parent 
only  was  a  Jew,  the  issue  was  pronounced  unclean  by  the 
Jews,  as  Timothy  was  ;  but  in  those  days,  the  gospel  might 
be  received  by  one  parent  only,  the  other  remaining  an  idolater 
during  many  years.  The  believing  wife  might  desire  to 
devote  her  child  to  the  Holy  Trinity :  "  no  ;  says  the  unbe- 
lieving husband,  THE  child  is  my  property  ;  and  I  forbid 
THAT  ;"  or  says  the  believing  husband,  "  I  earnestly  wish  to 
consecrate  to  rny  Lord  and  Saviour  this  increase  of  my  family." 
— "I  OPPOSE  THAT  WITH  ALL  MY  MIGHT,"  says  the  unbelicv^ 
ing  wife.  What  broils,  what  bickerings,  what  contentions, 
what  animosities  must  inevitably  have  followed  wherever  the 
gospel  had  entered  a  family  by  means  of  one  of  the  married 
parties  only,  had  the  Saviour  strictly  enjoined  the  liaptism  of 
babes  and  sucklings,  as  an  act  of  obedience  to  hiin !  What 
a  struggle  it  must  have  produced  in  every  family,  and  in  the 
most  virtuous  and  upright  bosoms,  between  duty  on  one  hand, 
and  IMPOSSIBILITY  on  the  other ! — between  the  desire  of 
submission  to  Christ,  and  the  opposition  of  conjugal  authority, 
supported  by  the  public  laws  and  the  public  force !  Our 
Lord's  infinite  wisdom  knew  the  human  heart.  He  was  the 
author  of  peace,  and  lover  of  concord.  Never  did  he  violate 
the  bonds  of  natural  aflection — he  sanctified  a  marriage  by 
his  presence,  but  he  hated  divorce  and  putting  away. 

To  domestic  considerations  we  add  the  troubles  of  the 
times,  and  the  persecuted  state  of  the  Church,  1  Cor.  vii.  29. 
If  the  apostle   felt  himself  constrained  to  advise  those  who 


22  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

liad  wives,  to  conduct  themselves  as  though  they  had  them 
not ;  did  not  the  same  cause  influence  those  who  had  child- 
ren, when  th(i  name  of  Christian  was  death  ?  Ihmdreds  of 
Christian  cliilrlren,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  half  l)loo<l  might 
remain  unhaptizcd,  agniiist  their  parent's  wishes  ;  enforced 
by  hard  necessity.  We  cainiot  ade(|uately  sym])athize  with 
Christians  under  the  terror  of  Roman  persecution,  and  the 
violence  of  heathen  priesthood.  Hence  the  necessity  of  some 
acquaintance  with  Church  History,  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
New  Testament :  and  the  necessity  for  some  to  teach  "  plain 
imlettered  men  :"  and  the  guilt  of  those  who  never  instruct 
their  hearers  in  what  v.^^ould  contribute  so  greatly  to  their 
knowledge,  edification,  and  comfort. 

On  all  who  came  to  Jordan,  John  conferred  baptism : — 
since  whoever  received  his  rite  stood  pledged  to  repentance 
and  holiness.  On  those  who  desired  baptism  from  the  apos- 
tles, they  bestowed  it.  Their  practice  demonstrates  their 
principle.  The  history  of  the  Christian  Church  has  preserved 
instances  in  proof  of  this  proposition  ;  for  we  read  of  several, 
when  Christianity  was  extensively  promulgated,  who  were 
baptized  in  adult  years.  Those  were  in  the  same  situation 
as  the  children  who  were  left  at  home  when  their  parents 
travelled  to  the  Jordan  to  John  :  or  as  those  children  who  in 
the  wilderness,  under  Moses,  did  not  receive  circumcision, 
because  the  perils  of  time  and  place  forbad  the  safe  perfor- 
mance of  the  rite.  These  were  afterwards  circumcised  in 
adult  years,  Josh.  v.  2 — 7  ;  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  ; 
though  in  strict  compliance  with  the  Divine  law  they  ought 
to  have  been  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day  after  their  birth. 
Now  these  instances  of  adult  baptism,  recorded  in  Church 
History,  demonstrate  that  Christian  parents  "  were  not  under 
bondage." — Divinebenevolence  "preferred  mercy  to  sacrifice." 
But  that  same  Church  Historj'  unequivocally  proves  the 
baptism  of  little  ones  to  be  a  Christian  practice  :  and  we  accept 
its  testimony  on  llux,  with  equal  confidence. 

Late  in  the  second  century,  and  within  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  churches  were  planted  by  the  apostles,  A.  I). 
200,  TertuUian  wrote  against  infant  baptism.  Now  he  could 
not  have  written  against  a  custom  which  did  not  exist ;  nor 
unless  it  prevailed.  His  reasons  are  sophisticated  by  "  the 
spirit  of  bondage"  of  the  ancient  law.  They  are  marked  by 
that  disposition  to  dread  and  despair  which  characterized  the 
Mosaic  dispensation. — He  argues — "  Give  to  them  who  ask 
thee,  but  children  cannot  ask :  Do  not  forbid  them  to  come : 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  23 

therefore  let  them  stay  till  they  can  come  :  let  them  come  when 
they  are  grown  up — when  they  understand  — when  they  are 
instructed  Avhither  it  is  tJiey  are  about  to  come :  let  them  be 
made  Christians  when  they  can  know  Christ."  For  reasons 
equally  valid,  unmarried  persons  ought  to  be  kept  off  from 
baptism,  Avho  are  likely  to  be  visited  by  temptation —  as  well 
those  who  never  were  married  ought  to  be  ktrtl  off\  on  account 
of  their  coming  to  maturity ;  as  those  in  a  widowed  state,  by 
reason  of  the  loss  of  their  conjugal  partners.  Add  the  thou- 
sand reasons  which  deter  persons  engaged  in  the  multifarious 
concerns  of  life,  in  middle  age, — and  the  inevitable  infirmities 
and  weaknesses,  mental  and  bodily,  of  old  age — and  baptism 
is  postponed  till  doomsday.  A  hopefid  method  of  establishing 
the  Church  of  Christ  ! 

But  TertuUian  had  a  shorter  way  of  confounding  the  pop- 
ular practice,  could  he  have  availed  himself  of  it.  He  omit- 
ted the  STRONGEST  ARGUMENT  that  possibly  could  be  employed 
against  the  object  of  his  aversion,  had  truth  allowed  him  to 
use  it :  the  very  battering-ram  of  destruction  against  Infant 
Baptism,  could  he  have  wielded  it.  "This  practice  is  a 
NovELTV  :  it  dates  but  of  yesterday  :  it  was  unknown  to 
Christians  fifty  years  ago  :  it  was  unknown  to  the  first 
churches  :  it  was  unknowist  to  the  Apostles."  He  would 
willingly  have  said  this,  for  this  must  have  condemned  the 
practice  conclusively.  Not  another  word  was  necessary  : 
but  he  could  not.  He  might  twist  a  few  texts  out  of  their 
perpendicular,  in  support  of  his  principles  ;  or  he  might  go 
so  far  as  to  hazard  a  slight  fib  ;  but  on  a  downright  falsity  the 
Christian  Father  would  not  venture  ;  although  intent  on  sup- 
pressing Infant  Baptism. 

I  know  not  Avhich  speaks  most  loudly,  the  silence  of  Ter- 
tuUian, notwithstanding  what  he  would  have  said,  or  the  uffir- 
inatton  of  his  contemporary'  Origen,  who  expressly  ascribes 
the  practice  of  infant  baptism, to  the  Apostles.  Origen  had 
many  advantages  not  then  common  : — he  was  of  Christian 
descent ; — his  father  was  a  Christian  martyr  ;  his  grandfather, 
and  great-grandfather  also  were  Christians.  Could  a  family 
so  early  Christianized  be  ignorant  what  had  been  the  primitive 
rites  and  customs  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  apostolic  churches  ? 
Origen's  words  are  these — "  The  Church  received  from  the 
Apusiles  the  injunction,  or  tradition,  ^o  give  baptism  fwen 
TO  infants.  According  to  that  saying  of  our  Lord  concern- 
ing infants — and  thou  wast  an  infant  when  thou  wast  bapti- 
zed— their   angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father 


24  sunjECTS  or  bai'tisjt. 

who  is  in  heaven."  We  have  these  explicit  passages  in  a 
translation  and  abridqemoiit  of  Origen's  works  from  Greek 
into  Latin  ;  and  if  the  testimony  of  Origen  had  stood  orpo- 
SED  to  infant  baptism,  we  should  never  have  heard  one  word 
on  the  disadvantage  of  having  his  work  in  a  translation  only, 
or  any  impmation  on  the  competence  or  correctness  of  his 
translator,  Rufinus. 

We  justify  the  practice  of  the  primitive  churches,  for  what- 
ever opinions  might  obtain  in  different  places,  or  whatever 
difference  in  administration,  no  instance  of  reproof  from  the 
Apostles  is  recorded.  The  Corinthian  church  transgressed 
in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  By  the  admoni- 
tion addressed  to  them  on  that  occasion,  succeeding  ages  are 
taught.  It  were  but  a  dubious  specimen  of  Christian  charity 
to  regret,  that  some  occasion  of  reproof  on  the  subject  of  bap- 
tism did  not  occur  among  the  churches,  by  which  we  also 
might  have  been  instructed  ;  but  from  this  silence  it  is  clear, 
that  this  Sacrament  had  not,  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  been 
misunderstood  or  misapplied. 

The  churches,  says  Origen,  acted  upon  tradition :  Tradi- 
tionem,  riaquSoaiv.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  tradi- 
tion in  the  Apostolic  writings,  and  those  of  the  early  fathers  ? 
We  are  accustomed  to  afhx  to  it  the  notion  of  a  mere  rumour 
unsupported  by  documents,  and  therefore  liable  to  perversion  ; 
— but  this  is  directly  contrary  to  the  import  of  the  word  among 
the  first  Christians.  The  Apostle  writing  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians,  ii.  15,  exhorts  them  to  "  hold  the  traditions  they  had 
been  taught,  whether  by  word,  or  hy  our  epistle.''''  He  makes 
no  difference  between  what  he  had  written,  and  what  his  au- 
thorized agents  reported  in  his  name  :  and  he  calls  his  own 
epistles,  traditions.  The  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is  a 
collection  of  traditions ;  for  it  was  delivered  to  the  church  at 
Corinth,  by  Stephanas,  and  Fortunatus,  and  Achaicus,  in  the 
name  of  Paul.  It  is  a  series  of  instructions  communicated 
by  second  hands  ;  it  is  composed  of  written  traditions ;  and 
supposing  that  Paul  added  verbal  instructions  on  some  points 
to  Stephanas  and  his  brethren,  these  became  unwritten  tradi- 
tions, when  they  were  reported  by  those  Christians  to  their 
constituents,  the  Corinthian  church.  This  "  Instruction,"  1 
Cor.  xi.2,  is  rendered  prec^p<a — traditiones,  in  Latin  :  in  Eng- 
lish, directions.  Instructions,  Doddridge.  Injunctions,  Park- 
hurst.  Ordinances,  in  our  public  version,  traditions — "  tradi- 
tion, which  ye  received  of  us."  So  then,  the  apostle  calls  his 
own  teachings,  traditions,  2  Thess.  ii.  15  ;  iii.  6,  instructions, 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  25 

directions,  injunctions^  or  ordinances.  Origen  uses  the  word  in 
the  same  sense.  "  The  church,"  says  he,  "  received  from  the 
Apostles,  the  tradition,  injunction,  direction,  instruction,  or 
ordinan<:e,  to  give  baptism  to  infants."  This  is  very  cred- 
ible in  itself,  on  the  authority  of  the  relator  ;  but  it  becomes 
much  clearer,  by  a  closer  examination  of  the  facts  of  the 
case. 

It  is  certain  from  their  own  testimony,  that  the  Apostles 
took  care  to  establish  means  of  conveying  their  directions  or 
injunctions  to  succeeding  generations  :  for  such  clearly  is 
the  import  of  the  Apostle  Peter's  language,  2  Peter  i.  15  ;  "  I 
will  endeavour,  that  after  my  decease,  you  make  mention  of 
these  things  ;" — and  thereby  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of 
them.  This  is  perfectly  coincident  with  Paul's  directions  to 
Timothy,  2  Tim.  ii,  2  ;  "  1'he  things  which  thou  hast  heard 
from  me,  dm,  fur  the  purpose  of  instructiiig  many  Avitnesses, 
the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be  able  to 
teach  others  also."  If  the  Apostles  were  so  careful,  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  but  the  primitive  Christians  their  successors 
were  also  equally  anxious  to  be  informed  respecting  whatever 
accounts,  of  the  conduct  of  Christ,  and  of  his  Apostles,  were 
in  preservation  among  them.  Irenaus,  born  A.  D.  97,  de- 
scribes his  anxiety  to  acquire  information  from  his  master 
Polycarp  :  "  /  remember  his  discourse  to  the  people  concerning 
the  conversations  he  had  had  with  John,  the  Apostle,  and  others 
who  had  seen  our  Lord  ;  how  he  rehearsed  their  discourses,  and 
what  he  heard  them  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  the  Word  of 
Life,  say  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  miracles  and  doctrine." 
This  proves  that  Polycarp  had  diligently  inquired  from  those 
who  could  tell  him,  concerning  our  Lord  and  his  doctrine. 
He  had  made  himself  master  of  whatever  was  to  be  known. 
It  proves  also,  that  such  traditions  Avere  repeated  by  him  in 
his  public  discourses  to  the  people ;  the  best  of  all  possible 
modes  of  instruction.  Moreover,  these  discourses  made  the 
deepest  impression  on  the  memory  of  Irenaeus  ;  for  he 
did  not  forget  them  to  his  dying  day.  In  this  he  was  not 
singular.  Thousands  of  other  hearers,  equally  desirous  to 
know,  were  equally  attentive  and  equally  affected.  The 
same  desire  animated  Origen  ;  because  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  such  knowledge,  he  visited  the  churches  planted  by 
the  Apostles  in  Cappadocia  and  Arabia,  in  Greece  and  Rome ; 
while  the  main  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine,  the  seat  of  the  first  churches  ;  where  he  could  not  fail 
of  acquiring  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  tlieir  constitution, 

3 


26  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

manners,  and  practice.  He  Avas  a  native  of  Alexandria  in 
Eg:ypt. 

Irenaeus,  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  who  had  been  the  dis- 
ciple of  John  the  Apostle,  lived  long,  and  might  bear  his  tes- 
timony to  the  truth  seventy  or  eiglity  years  after  the  death  of 
John  ; — but  to  avoid  cavil,  I  take  the  generations  in  the  family 
of  Origen,  and  of  those  "  faithful  men"  to  whom  Timothy 
gave  charge,  vX  forty  years  oidy  ;  and  because  Origen's  father 
was  martyred,  I  take  him  for  tivcnty-five  years  oidy.  It  ap- 
pears then  that  the  testimony  of  Paul,  of  Timothy,  of  Tim- 
othy's "  faithful  men"  and  of  "  others  also"  instructed  by 
them,  reaches  downward  to  the  year  180.  Origen  was  born 
in  185;  add  his  father,  Iwe.nty-five  years;  his  grandfather, 
forty  years  ;  and  his  great-grandfather  forty  years  also,  and 
we  are  brought  to  the  year  80,  when  Mark  the  Evangelist 
had  been  dead  only  twlve  years  at  Alexandria.  Mark  knew 
the  practice  of  the  Apostles.  He  would  select  his  "  faithful 
men"  to  transmit  his  instructions  to  his  church  in  subsequent 
years.  .Tohn  was  still  living,  for  twenty  years,  in  case  any 
difficvdty  had  arisen.  The  intercourse  by  sea  from  Ephesus 
to  Alexandria  was  direct :  but  from  Alexandria  to  Crete,  the 
intercourse  was  almost  daily.  There  was  Timothy,  or  Titus, 
or  some  one  of  their  "  faithful  men,"  living  contemporaries 
with  the  Origen  family  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  .'  Is  it 
possible  that  under  such  circumstances,  the  practice  of  the 
Church  derived  from  the  Apostles,  in  a  matter  of  daily  oc- 
currence, could  be  forgotten  ?  Could  it  be  perverted,  abused, 
counteracted  1  Could  a  rite  totally  new,  unfounded,  diamet- 
rically opposite  to  Apostolic  injunctions,  be  established  and 
prevail  ?  Where  was  Timothy  1  where  were  his  "  faithful 
men  ?"  Not  at  their  duty,  if  such  abominable  transgression 
could  be  suffered  and  announced  and  acted  on,  as  derived 
from  the  Apostles  themselves  ! 

What  is  it  short  of  impossible  to  imagine  that  Origen  had 
been  imposed  upon — he  who  travelled  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  acquiring  information,  who  visited  the  Apostolic 
churches,  and  resided  among  the  chief  of  them — that  he 
should  not  KNOW  the  Christian  observances  in  his  own  family, 
from  his  father,  his  grandfather,  &c.,  derived  from  Mark  the 
Evangelist?  Were  this  a  question  on  a  fact  of  modern  his- 
tory, said  to  have  occurred  a  hundred,  a  hundred  and  twenty, 
or  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  would  you  not  deem  the 
evidence  sufficient  to  establish  your  belief? — Such  is  the  tes- 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 


27 


timony  of  Origen  in  reference  to  injunctipns  for  infant  bap- 
tism, derived  from  the  Apostles.* 

We  shall  now  support  the  affirmation  of  Origen,  that  "  the 
Church  received  from  the  Apostles  an  injunction  to  confer 
baptism  on  infants,"  by  inquiring  whether  any  traces  of  such 
practice  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  or  by  any  one  of  them, 
are  preserved  in  Scripture  ?  The  facts  of  that  question  are 
our  immediate  object. 

The  import  of  that  language  in  which  such  facts  are  trans- 
mitted is  not  to  be  decided  by  the  conceptions  of  "  an  unlet- 
tered man,  with  the  New  Testament  only  in  his  hand" — at 
the  distance  of  nearly  two  thousand  years  from  the  original 
writer,  in  point  of  time,  and  several  thousand  miles  from  his 


•  CONTEMPORARIES  AND  DESCENT  OF  THE 


A.D. 


JOHN  Apoxtle. 


96  Polycarp,  disci- 

ple of  John. 

97  Irenaeus  born. 

101  JOHN  dies. 

116  Polycarp,  bish- 
op of  Smyr- 
na. Rev.  ii.  8. 


ORIGEN  FAMILY. 


PAUL,  67 


Timothy, 97 


MARK,  Evan. 
Origen's    great- 
grandfather 


Origen's  grand- 
father 


A.D. 
63 


80 


12a 


170  Irenaeus,  bishop 
of  Lyons,  disci- 
ple of  Polycarp, 
mentions  "  re- 
born infants." 


Faithful  men,  140 
2  Tim.  ii.  2. 


Origen's  father         160 


Others  also,  180 
2  Tim.  ii.  2. 


Origen  born  185 

Origen's  father  mar- 
tyred 202 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  Apostolic  persons  were  living  in 
Egypt,  who  had  daily  intercourse  with  Judea  ;— that  many  of  the  Jew- 
ish Christians,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  settled  among  their 
countrymen  at  Alexandria  ;  and  that  from  these,  as  well  as  from  other 
Christians,  in  Greek  churches,  Origen  obtained  correct  information  re- 
specting all  Christian  rites,  occasional  or  constant.  This  Table  shows 
only  the  contemporaries  with  his  family  from  indisputable  authority. 


28  SUBJECTS  OF   BAl'TISM. 

country  ; — but  front  those  of  a  Greek  man,  able  to  peruse  the 
New  Testament,  who  must  know  what  was  included  in  the 
current  language  of  his  age  and  country  :  more  properly  still, 
from  those  of  Theophilus,  to  whom  Luke  dedicated  his  work, 
and  who  certainly  understood  the  full  sense  of  what  the 
sacred  writer  addressed  to  him. 

Whoever  is  acquainted  with  any  language  besides  his  own, 
knows  well,  that  with  whatever  skill  a  translation  from  a  for- 
eign tongue  be  executed,  it  will  be  liable  to  imperfections  in 
the  application  of  words,  either  as  to  meaning  or  to  spirit. 
Valuable  as  our  public  version  of  the  New  Testament  is,  it 
could  not  escape  this  defect,  which  is  inherent  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  language  ;  and  I  have  never  yet  seen  those  passages 
of  Scripture  set  in  a  just  light  wliich  support  the  testimony 
of  Origen. 

A  precept  or  practice  referring  to  the  baptism  of  children 
might  naturally  be  expected  in  connection  with  the  mention  of 
children  ; — or  with  such  particulars  as  imply  the  presence  of 
children,  and  demonstrate  their  participation.  Parents  with- 
out children  are  not  to  the  purpose,  however  numerous. 
Children  without  parents,  the  circumstances  of  the  Gospel 
history  do  not  warrant  us  to  expect.  If  such  occur,  they  are 
doubly  worthy  of  notice  ;  but  in  general,  we  expect  to  find 
children  in  company  with  their  parents,  children  of  various 
ages,  especially  in  numerous  families.  Families  imply  chil- 
dren. Families  are  composed  of  children  in  every  stage  of 
life. 

To  express  the  presence  of  children,  our  language  formerly 
employed  the  term  house  ;  but  modern  correctness  adopts  an- 
other usage  of  the  word. 

The  English  term  house  means  a  building  or  residence. 
Outhouses  are  buildings  somewhat  removed  from  the  family, 
usually  inhabited  by  inferior  persons,  the  servants  and  assist- 
ants. House  is  also  used  metaphorically,  to  denote  succes- 
sive generations  of  men  allied  by  consanguinity.  By  the 
addition  of  a  syllable,  house  imports  the  attendants  or  princi- 
pals ;  their  whole  establishment  of  every  description,  their 
HOUSEHOLD — whocver  holds,  belongs,  or  appertains  to  their 
house. 

Otxog,  House,  has  the  following  meanings  j — the  temple  of 
the  Lord  ;  the  temple  of  an  idol ;  a  royal  palace  ;  the  palace 
of  a  great  man  ;  a  military  establishment ;  a  college  or  place 
of  learning  ;  a  private  dwelling  ;  a  cot,  hovel,  hut,  or  shed  ; 
a  bird's  nest,  and  perhaps  a  mere  roosting-place  ;  a  nation  ;  a 


SUBJKCTS  OF   BAPTISM.  29 

family  descent  through  ages  ;  a  private  family,  contempcra- 
ries ;  the  celestial  state  ;  the  vehicle  of  disembodied  spirits 
in  the  celestial  state  ;  the  church  of  God  on  earth ;  the  per- 
sons of  believers  on  earth  ;  a  tent ;  a  parlor  ;  a  chamber  and 
retiring  rooms  distinct  from  the  temple.  Is  it  possible,  lliat 
these  twenty  senses  of  this  word  can  be  thoroughly  examined 
and  fully  understood,  as  it  has  been  said,  in  the  short  space 
of  a  "  single  hour  ?"  We  must  seek  for  knowledge  as  for 
silver  in  a  mine — we  must  dig  for  it,  as  for  hid  treasure. 
One  instance  in  proof  of  this  is  the  extent  of  research  de- 
manded by  this  single  Avord,  if  we  determine  thoroughly  to 
understand  it. 

In  our  inquiries  after  truth,  it  is  of  great  moment  to  estab- 
lish the  rules  which  are  to  guide  us  — and  by  the  following 
rules  we  should  attempt  to  elucidate  Scripture  :  — 

I.  Every  word  should  he  token  in  its  primary,  obvious,  and 
ordinary  meaning,  unless  there  be  something  in  the  connection, 
or  in  the  nature  of  things,  which  requires  it  to  be  taken  other' 
wise. — II.  Whenever  by  the  connection  of  a  term,  or  by  the 
nature  of  things,  me  are  obliged  to  depart  from  the  primary, 
obvious,  and  ordinary  meaning  of  a  word,  we  should  depart  as 
little  as  possible  from  that  meaning,  and  even  with  reluctance. 
The  necessity  of  this  rule  on  the  word  Baptism,  is  evident ; 
for  though  to  the  English  reader  it  imports  purif  cation,  yet 
the  Greek  scholar  knows  that  it  is  metaphorically  taken  to 
denote  corruption. — III. I  Whatever  is  expressed  in  Scripture  is 
conclusive  argument ;  and  whatever  is  not  expressed  is  not  con- 
clusive. Hence,  we  must  examine  and  ascertain  the  proper 
meaning  of  the  terms  Oi^og  and  Oixlu. 

0IK02. — The  first  passage  recommended  to  consideration 
is  this,  Ecclesiasticus  xxix.  28. 

"  The  first  indispensables  for  human  life  are  water,  and 
bread,  and  a  wrapper  for  the  body,  and — oikos — a  hut,  to 
conceal  the  shame  of  the  party.  Better  is  the  life  of  a  poor 
man  under  the  shelter  of  a  shed,  or  log-house,  than  delicate 
fare  at  another  man's.  Be  it  little  or  much,  hold  thee  con-, 
tented  :  and  thou  shalt  not  hear  reproach  cast  on  thy — oikia 
— residence.  It  is  a  miserable  life  to  go  from  oikia  to  oikia — 
from  residence  to  residence :  and  where  thou  dost  not  own 
even  a  hovel,  thou  shalt  not  open  thy  mouth,  Thou  mayest 
receive  food  ;  thou  mayest  receive  drink ;  bestowed  with  an 
ill  grace  ;  and  bitter  words  upon  it.  "  Come,  HousE/e.yy,  help 
spread  the  table  ;  and  hand  me  up  the  dish,  that  I  may  eat, — 
Go  away,  house/cs^,  from  before  a  man  of  fashion  ;  my  oikia 

3* 


30  SUDJECTS  or  BAPTISM. 

— whole  fistahlishinent — all  my  lodging  room  is  engaged  :  a 
brother  grandee  is  coining  to  enjoy  my  hospitality." 

It  is  evident,  that  oikos  hero  describes  the  meanest  shelter 
possible,  and  that  oikia  implies  an  extensive  establishment  or 
capacious  premises.  They  are  in  absolute  opposition  to 
each  other.  The  compound  word  par-oiKE,  imports  "  not 
possessing  a  hovel  of  the  meanest  kind :"  and  it  is  so  used 
with  an  inexpressible  opposition,  by  the  apostle,  Eph.  ii.  9. 
"  Now  therefore,  ye  arc  no  more  strangers,  but  fellow-citizens 
with  the  saints  :  no  more,  lu^oiyoi,  uovheIcss  vagrants — but 
inmates  of  the  royal  palace — of  the  household  of  God." 
The  apostle  could  not  find  a  stronger  term  than  por-oiKE,  to 
denote  in  what  a  forlorn  state  the  heathen  had  been  ; — nor  a 
stronger  opposition,  to  denote  their  present  happiness,  as 
believing  Christians. 

The  structure  cannot  be  too  slight  that  is  marked  by  the 
term  oikos.  It  signifies  a  bird's  nest*  in  the  "  Geoponics," 
edited  by  Niclas,  more  than  once.  Domus  is  so  used  by  Lu- 
cretius at  the  opening  of  the  first  book : 

"  Frondiferasque  domos  avium,  camposque  virentes." 

This  will  remind  the  reader  of  the  Psalmist's  expressions, 
Psahn  Ixxxiv.  and  civ.  17:  "  the  sparrow  hath  found  a  house y 
"  As  for  the  stork,  the  fir-trees  are  her  house  :"  her  roosting 
place. 

It  is  impossible  to  reduce  the  import  of  the  term  oikos 
"lower  ;  but  we  shall  see  the  distinction  yet  more  strongly  in 
the  investigation  of  oikia. 

OIKTJ. — In  further  proof  that  oiA?a  implies  spacious  prem- 
ises, consult  the  simile  ;  "  For,  as  the  architect  of  a  ncAv 
oiAi'a  — extensive  residence — must  take  care  of  the  whole  struc- 
ture, in  all  its  various  parts  ;  so,  to  stand  on  every  point,  and 
to  go  over  things  at  large,  and  to  be  curious  in  particulars, 
belongeth  to  the  Archigetes,  the  first  author  of  the  story  :" — 
not  to  those  who  abridge  it.    2  Maccabees  ii.  20. 


*  Nor  is  this  idea  uncommon  in  reference  to  persons  in  other  lan- 
guages besides  the  famous  oikiscos  of  Demosthenes,  in  Greek.  There  is 
a  pretty  antique  basso  relievo  representing  a  group  of  children,  in  a 
bird's  nest,  looking  out  for  their  paients.  The  Welsh  have  a  poem  by 
Jolo  Goch,  who  passed  the  following  encomium  on  a  lady  : 

Her  children  come  in  pairs  ; 
A  beautiful  nest  of  children  ! 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  31 

An  othia  then  resembles  a  history  at  large,  including  all 
particulars  ;  and  treating  on  every  point  specitically. 

The  same  extensive  import  of  oikia,  is  satisfactorily  ex- 
pressed in  the  history  of  the  Magi,  Matt.  ii.  11,  who  visited 
the  Babe  at  Bethlehem.  There  was  no  room  in  the  inn,  says 
the  Evangelist :  his  mother  therefore  retired  to  the  stable:  — 
"And  the  Avise  men  came  into  the  oikia — premises— out- 
houses or  stable,  where  the  young  child  was,  and  found  him 
and  his  parents."  This  oikia  cannot  possibly  denote  the 
dwelling-house  ;  it  7nust  denote  out-houses. 

Whoever  is  acquainted  with  a  tanner's  business  knows 
that  it  requires  considerable  space,  and  various  and  large  out- 
buildings. So  the  oikia  of  Simon  the  tanner  at  Joppa,  Acts 
X.  10  ;  his  establishment  was  by  the  sea-side.  The  men  who 
were  sent  to  Peter  inquired  for  the  establishment — oikia — of 
Simon,  Acts  xi.  11,  17  ;  and  stood  before  the  gate — not  the 
door  of  the  dvvelling-house,  but  the  gate  of  the  tanner's  yard. 
The  premises  therelbre  included  the  dwelling-house,  on  the 
top  of  which  Peter  had  his  vision,  and  the  offices,  yard,  &c., 
around  it. 

This  is  also  strikingly  apparent  to  the  slightest  attention, 
in  the  history  of  Peter's  deliverance,  Acts  xii.  12.  Having 
considered,  he  came  to  the  ozAi'a— premises  of  Mary  the 
mother  of  John — where  many  were  gathered  together,  pray- 
ing. Peter  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  gate— not  the  door 
of  the  dwelling-house,  but  of  the  outer  gate  — and  a  damsel 
named  Rhoda  went  out  to  listen  ;  and  when  she  knew  Peter's 

voice  she  opened  not  the  gate  for  joy,  but  running  in . 

It  seems,  then,  that  Mary's  dwelling-house  standing  across  a 
courtyard,  somewhat  removed  from  the  street,  preserved  that 
privacy  which  the  case  required ;  as  passengers  could  not 
hear  the  devotions  offered.  The  outer  gate  of  the  courtyard 
had  a  smaller  door  ;  and  the  whole  was  strongly  fastened. 
Rhoda  ran  across  the  courtyard  to  the  outer  gate,  where 
she  knew  Peter's  A'^oice,  and  immediately  ran  across  the 
courtyard  back  again. 

If  the  out-houses  and  courtyard  include  the  house,  it  is 
clear  that  they  are  distinct  erections.  They  are  divisible,  Q.r\A 
may  be  separated.  That  the  idea  of  divisibility  is  attached 
to  this  term  in  the  New  Testament,  is  evident  from  the  lan- 
guage of  the  apostle,  2  Tim.  ii.  20  ;  "  In  a  great  house — not 
oikos,  but  oikia — there  are  not  only  vessels  of  gold  and  of 
silver,  but  also  of  wood  and  of  earth  ;  and  some  to  honour 
and  some  to  dishonour."     The  whole  of  this  passage  imports 


32  SUBJECTS  OF   BAPTISM. 

divisihiliiy.  So  says  our  Lord,  John  xiv.  2  :  "  In  ray  Father's 
house — not  oikos,  but  oikia — are  many  mansions."  Many 
mansions  imply  divisibiUiy  ;  and  premises  extensive,  spacious, 
wide,  large,  broad,  infinitely  beyond  the  feeble  comprehen- 
sion of  mortal  man. 

The  Evangelists  frequently  express  the  same  fact  in  differ- 
ent terms,  and  denote  the  same  identical  object  by  different 
appellations  ;  in  the  case  of  the  Paralytic,  Matthew  ix.  6, 
Mark  ii.  11,  and  Luke  v.  24,  all  three  say,  "  take  up  thy 
bed,  and  go  to  thine  house — oihios.  The  Pharisees  'are 
charged  with  "devouring  widows'  houses"  Matt,  xxiii.  14, 
Mark  xii.  40,  Luke  xx.  47,  — all  read  oikia,  not  oikos. 
Though  there  are  variations  among  the  evangelists,  in  the 
phraseology  forbidding  a  man  to  regard  the  property  in  his 
oikia,  yet  not  one  of  tlie  sacred  writers  substitutes  oikos  for 
oikia.  In  the  course  of  a  long  history,  in  Avhich  we  have  the 
words  from  the  mouths  of  different  speakers,  not  one  stum- 
bles on  this  interchange  of  oikos  and  oikia—\mi  every  speaker 
preserves  the  distinction.  I  allude  to  the  history  of  Corne- 
lius, Acts  X.  xi.  The  dwelling  of  Cornelius  is  called  his 
oikos,  by  the  servants  of  Cornelius,  by  Cornelius  himself,  and 
by  Peter  twice,  Acts  xi.  12,  13.  On  the  contrary,  the  dwell- 
ing of  Simon  is  called  oikia,  by  the  angel,  by  the  evangelist, 
by  Cornelius,  and  by  Peter.  How  is  it  that  no  interchange 
occurs  here,  if  the  words  be  interchangeable  ?  Luke  was  a 
good  Greek  writer,  and  well  aware  of  the  difference. 

With  all  these  distinctions  and  diametrical  oppositions,  are 
these  terms  interchangeable,  in  their  proper  acceptation  ?  Is 
a  hut  interchangeable  with  a  great  house  ?  Is  the  same  term 
that  signifies  the  fragile  materials  and  small  dimensions  of  a 
bird's  nest,  interchangeable  with  thatv/hich  denotes  the  heaven- 
ly seat  of  Almighty  "power  and  glory  ?  Is  the  careful  distinc- 
tion preserved  by  the  evangelists,  the  merely  casual  result  of 
accident  ? 

But  oikos  is  a  masculine  noun,  while  oikia  is  feminine. 
How  long  have  nouns  masculine  and  feminine  been  inter- 
changeable in  Greek  ?  Are  prince,  princess  ;  —jew,  Jewess  ;  — 
tiger,  tioress,  6fc.,  interchangeable  in  English  ?  That  they 
denote  the  same  genus  and  species  is  certain ;  but  as  terms 
in  language,  they  are  not  interchangeable. 

Neither  can  a  part  be  the  same  as  the  whole,  or  be  inter- 
changeable with  it.  That  oikos  really  is  part  of  oikia  is 
the  testimony  of  Hesychius  ;  and  of  Biel,  repeating  him. 

Hesychius.   oixos,  aXiyrjoixia,  oikos,  d^  smzWoikia.     Odys- 


SUBJECTS  OF   BAPTISM.  33 

sey,  *.  16  ; — ><«»  fisgog  n  iijs  otxiag,  also  a  certain  part  of  the 
oikia.  II.  Z.  490.  Od.  A.  356.  Penelope  was  really  with- 
in the  building  when  she  was  commanded  to  go  into  the  oikos, 
which  is  described  as  an  upper  and  retired  apartment.  >«at 
Ta  ev  jTj  otxiu,  and  the  substance  or  property  within  the  oikia. 
— Od.  B.  48. 

In  the  Evangelists,  the  property  of  a  householder  is  de- 
scribed as  deposited  in  the  oikia  ;  for  the  person  who  is  said 
to  be  on  his  house-top  is  directed  not  to  go  down  to  take  any 
thing  out  of  his  oikia.  Matt.  xxiv.  17;  or  as  Mark  expresses  it, 
xii.  15,  "  Let  him  not  go  down  into  his  oikia  ;  neither  let  him 
enter  therein — which  implies  some  distance  to  be  passed  over, 
and  marks  a  strong  distinction  ;  for  whoever  was  on  his  house- 
top, was  already  in  his  oikos  :  therefore  he  could  need  no 
caution  against  ^'^  entering  therein."  Lukexvii.  31,  speaks 
of  "  his  stuff — his  property — in  the  oikia,"  which  is  strictly 
and  remarkably  conformable  to  the  passage  in  Homer. 

BiEL,  Thesaurus  ; — "  oixog,  domus,  tentorium,  templum, 
conclave,  familia.  Gen.  ix.  21 .  xxiv.  67.  Num.  ix.  15.  Deut. 
V.  30.  Ez.  xxxii.  14.  1  Chron.  xxix.  19.  Gen.  vii.  1.  1 
Kings  vii.  1,  6,  8,  9.  et  confer.  Luke  i.  27.  et  Prochenium 
de  Styl.  N.  T.  ^  120.  2  Kings  xxiii.  8,  U.—Filii;  1 
Chron.  ii.  10.  Jer.  xvi.  14.  Amos  iii.  1.  Zeph.  i.  9.  cubi- 
culum.  conclave.  Jer.  xxxv.  4.  Jer.  xxxvi.  10,  12,  20,  21. 
et  confer  Lud.  de  dieu  ad.  Act.  1.  13.  Sic  et  Josepho  de 
Bell.  Jud.  vi.  6.  conclavia  circa  templum  structa  vocantur 
otxoi.  Eodem  sensu  vox  legitur  in  illo  Poetae,  Odyss.  A.  v. 
353. 

'AXX  Big  on(ov  tscra  t«  javrrjg  sqya  xofnt^e. 

Sed  abi  in  conclave,  et  tuarum  rerum  curam  habes. 

Quo  respiciens  Hesychius,  omov  interpretatur  fisqog  ti  rrjg 
oixiag  partem  quandam  domus." 

"  Oikos.  house,  tent,  temple,  parlour,  family,  inner  chamber. 
The  ccpnacula,  or  retiring  rooms,  built  around  the  temple 
were,  called  oikoi.  In  the  same  sense  the  word  is  employed 
in  the  Odyssey.  Book  i.  358. — But  go  into  your  parlour,  and 
mind  your  own  business. — On  which  authority,  Hesychius 
interprets  oikos,  a  certain  part  of  a  house." 

This  notion  of  a  retired  apartment,  or  appropriate  division 
of  a  large  building,  expressed  by  the  term  oikos,  frequently 
occurs.     Even  the  abode  of  Jupiter  on  Olympus  seems  to 


34  SUBJKCTS  OF   BAPTISM. 

have  conformed  to  it :  for  we  find,  Iliad  A.  532.  3,  4,  5,  that 
the  gods  had  a  great  hall,  dwau  Jiog,  in  which  they  met  to 
hold  councils,  to  dine,  and  to  sup  :  but  after  supper,  they 
rctircnl  triur  otxindf  txnuiog,  ad  auum  quisquc  doinum,  each  to 
his  own  oikos,  his  division  of  the  common  palace  ;  for  Olym- 
pus was  common  to  all  the  gods  :  and  in  this,  Homer  took 
his  description  from  a  well-known  custom  of  his  time.  The 
Labyrinth  of  Egypt,  Uijrod.  lib.  i.  cap.  148,  is  an  instance  in 
point. 

The  same  idea  of  a  separate  retired  apartment  is  conveyed 
in  later  ages  by  this  word :  for  Euscbius  informs  us.  Vita 
Const,  lib.  iii.  c.  10,  that  the  council  of  bishops  at  Nice  was 
held  in  a  large  HALL-ot/:o.y  —  of  the  royal  residence — tw 
fieoaiiuiu}  cnyw  BuoiXfimv.  This  he  expresses  in  another 
place  by  "  the  great  Hall  in  the  palace" — oixov  itiytcov  iv 
■lolg  ^(tadsioig, — or  oixog  svxtrjoiog — an  oratory,  or  place  of 
prayer  : — not  a  temple,  not  a  separate  building — but  an  apart^ 
raent  in  the  palace  itself,  destined  to  sacred  service  :  not 
accessible  to  all  the  world  ;  but,  as  becomes  a  place  of  prayer, 
retired  from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the  palace. 

If  then  oikos  be  a  small  ozkia, — if  oikos  be  a  part  or  divi- 
sion in  an  oikia, — if  it  be  an  upper  part,  an  elevation,  while 
the  oikia  extends  in  breadth,  how  can  these  nouns  be  inter- 
changeable ?  And  if  small  and  large,  a  part  and  the  whole, 
height  and  breadth,  be  not  interchangeable — then  the  argument 
of  the  Baptists  fails ;  and  with  it  falls  their  whole  system. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  much  on  the  figurative  acceptation 
of  the  terms,  in  reference  to  living  persons — to  families. 
Our  second  rule  of  interpretation  imports,  that  we  keep  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  the  proper  meaning  of  a  word,  notwith- 
standing it  be  taken  metaphorically  ;  according  to  the  positive 
affirmation  of  Aristotle — that  oikos  is  a  society  oi  free  persons, 
whereas  oikia  is  composed  of  both  bond  and  free — and  con- 
sequently, it  includes  the  oikos  which  forms  a  part  of  it. 
The  part  cannot  be  the  same  as  the  whole,  or  interchangeable 
with  it. 

It  was  common  in  the  East  for  a  son,  though  married,  to 
continue  in  his  father's  house  for  years  ;  and  such  an  instance 
we  have,  in  which  it  is  not  possible  to  exclude  young  chil- 
dren from  the  import  of  the  term  oikos  in  the  sense  oi family . 
"  In  word  and  deed  honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  ;  that 
upon  thee  may  come  blessings  from  all  men.  For  the  blessing 
of  a  father  establishelh  the  oikous — houses — of  sons  :  while 
the  curse  of  a  mother  rooteth  up  foundations." — Ecclesiasti- 


SUBJECTS  OF   BAI'TISM.  35 

cus  iii.  9. — The  blessing  of  a  father  has  no  effect  on  brick 
and  mortar;  the  term  therefore  mnat  mean  di family  of  ymuig 
children  ;  for  such  infantine  prattlers  are  the  delight  of  a 
grandfather. 

Lycophron  calls  an  adulterer 'oixog  ^o^w* ,"  the  corrupter 
of  oikus  ;"  meaning,  not  merely  the  seducer  of  wives,  but  the 
corrupter  of  the  bluud — of  the  family  desani,  by  introducing 
a  sjRirious  brood.  All  the  women  in  Penelope's  household, 
oikia,  as  well  as  the  dozen  that  Ulysses  dangled  on  a  rope, 
might  have  been  seduced  by  Penelope's  suitors,  without  affect- 
ing the  fidelity  of  their  mistress  in  the  least.  On  the  other 
hand,  had  Penelope  alone  been  unfaithful  to  her  husband 
Ulysses,  the  chastity  of  all  her  attendants  would  have  been 
no  compensation  to  him. 

The  Latin  writers  Dumenil.  Lat.  Syn.  Domus  use  the 
word  dmnvs^  house,  in  the  same  sense.  And  there  is  the 
same  distinction  between  domus — us,  domus — i,  as  between 
oikos  and  oikia. — The  modern  Italian  preserves  it  strongly  ; 
for  casa  is  a  hoiisf,  but  casone,  with  an  additional  syllable, 
forming  the  termination,  is  a  great  large  house. 

So,  speaking  of  families,  Juvenal  says — 

Evertere  domos  totas  optantibus  ipsis 
Di  faciles Sat.  x.  7 — 

"The  too  easily  acceding  gods  overturn  houses  —  descent 
of  families — by  granting  the  wishes  of  their  principals,  in 
behalf  of  their  children."  He  speaks  also  of  a  house— fajnily 
— descent,  disgraced  by  aduUery  :  Dedecus  ille  domvh  sciet 
ultimus.      lb.  342. 

Childrrn  are  the  primary  objects  of — oikos — house  ;  but 
oikos  includes  connections  by  marriage  ;  the  son-in-law,  and 
the  daughter-in-law,  with  iheir  children — the  family -df-scent. 
I  know  but  one  text  where  it  expresses  family-«.vr^n/  ;  yet 
nothing  can  be  clearer  than  the  consanguinity  marked  by  the 
term,  even  in  that  text ;  1  Tim.  v.  4,  "  If  any  widow  have 
children  or  grandchildnn — which  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
rendered  nephews — let  them  learn  to  show  piety  in  their  own 
family,  mv  iSmv  oixnv^  and  to  requite  their  parents."  Exactly 
coincident  with  this,  is  the  expression  of  Pindar — Ode  xiii. 
04X01-  jQic^nXvfinioi  ixiti^  "  the  house  thrice  victor  in  the  Olym- 
pic games  :"  meaning,  the  family  of  Xencphon.  to  whom 
the  ode  is  addressed  :  —  Xenophon,  his  father  Thessalus, 
and  his  grandfather  Ptoeodorus.     Is  it  possible,  knowing  this, 


Jb  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

that  it  was  intended  to  restrict  the  term  oikos  to  children — 
to  children  "  only  and  always  ?"  If  so,  what  could  be  meant 
by  introducing  a  quotation  from  Aristotle,  importing  that 
"  Oikos  is  a  society  connected  together  according  to  the 
course  of  nature,  for  long  continuance  ?" — Any  sense  impover- 
ishes the  sentiment,  unless  by  "  every  day"  all  the  days  of 
life 'are  intended.  It  was  so  understood  by  Cicero,  who 
has  very  elegantly  distributed  the  argument  of  Aristotle, 
where  he  describes  the  progi'css  of  a  family,  De  Off.  lib.  i. 
c.  17  :  "  The  first  social  connection,  he  says,  is  the  conjugal : 
then  that  of  children  :  these  constitute  a  dornus — house  or 
family  common  to  all.  This  is  the  commencement  of  a  city, 
as  it  were,  the  plantation  of  young  trees — the  succession-plot 
of  the  common  Aveal.  Then  follow  the  union  of  brothers  and 
their  families  ;  of  sisters  and  their  families  :  and  when  one 
house  cannot  contain  their  numbers,  they  form  other  houses. 

After  these  follow  relations  by  marriage they  have  the 

same  family  descent,  the  same  family  recollections,  the  same 
family  rites,  and  the  same  family  sepulchre."* 

This  society  extends  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  :  from 
the  original  parents,  perhaps  to  second  cousins  :  and  to  this 
relation  it  may,  possibly,  be  traced  in  Scripture.  But  what 
is  there  here  inconsistent  with  the  idea  that  children  are  the 
primary,  and  usually  the  immediate  object  of  the  term  family  ? 
Is  it  not  according  to  Nature  to  place  themfrst  1  and  does 
not  Cicero  himself,  as  well  as  Aristotle,  follow  that  course  in 
this  very  passage,  wherein  he  traces  consanguhiity  and  affin- 
ity to  their  utmost  extent  ? 

Now  in  all  this,  where  are  servants  or  slaves  admitted  ? 
Is  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  "  according  to  the  course 
of  nature  ?"  Can  we  separate  the  idea  of  children — young 
children — infants,  from  the  terms  "  house  of  Israel — house  of 
Jacob — house  of  Judah — house  of  David  ?"  Surely  not :  for 
without  descents  by  infants,  what  becomes  of  the  nation  ? — 

•  Nam  cum  sit  hoc  natura  commune  animantium,  ut  habeant  lubidinem 
procreandi,  prima  societas  in  ipso  conjugio  est :  proxima  in  liberis  : 
deinde  una  domus,  communia  omnia.  Id  autem  est  principium  urbis, 
et  quasi  seminarium  reipublic^.  Sequuntur  fratrum  conjunctiones, 
post  consobrinorum  sobrinorumque  :  qui  cum  una  domo  jam  capi  non 
possint,  in  alias  domos,  tamquam  in  colonias,  exeunt.  Sequuntur  con- 
nubia  et  affinitates  :  ex  quibus  ctiam  plures  propinqui.  Quae  propaga- 
tio,  et  suboles,  origio  est  rerum  publicarum.  Sanguinis  autem  conjunc- 
tio,  benevolenfia  devincit  homines  et  caritate.  Magnum  est  enim 
eadem  habere  monumenta  majorum,  eisdem  uti  sacris,  sepulcra  habere 
communia. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  37 

Now  if  we  cannot  separate  the  idea  of  children  from  a  nation, 
from  a  lotig  descent,  how  can  we  separate  it  from  the  families 
composing  that  nation,  from  an  immediate  descent — from  any 
one  link  in  the  chain  of  descent  ? — If,  then,  children  of  all 
ages  be  the  primary  and  immediate  object  of  the  iernx  family, 
according  to  the  course  of  nature,  according  to  the  general 
and  established  us©  of  the  word,  it  rests  with  those  who 
undertake  to  confute  this  proposition,  to  show  convincing 
cause  for  denying  this  import  of  the  term  ;  but  especially 
where  the  term  occms  in  Scripture,  connected  with  baptism. 
They  are  bound  to  show,  in  the  instances  of  Cornelius,  of 
the  Jailor,  of  Lydia,  of  Stephanas,  of  Crispus,  and  of  Onesi- 
phorus,  to  which  add  those  of  Aristobulus  and  Narcissus,  with 
the  many  believers  who  formed  the  church  of  Corinth,  that 
there  neither  were,  nor  could  be  young  children  in  any  one  of 
these  instances. — If  this  be  thought  too  much  trouble,  the 
purpose  may  be  answered  with  equal  certainty,  by  merely 
proving  that  the  families  of  the  Bishop,  the  Deacon,  and  the 
young  women,  in  the  epistle  to  Timothy,  cannot  include  young 
childr  e  n — infa  n  Is . 

OIKIA — Oikia  includes,  besides  the  family,  slaves,  ser- 
vants, or  attendants. — "  As  the  sun  rising  in  mid-heaven  is  a 
good  wife  to  her  household,"  Otxiag. — Ecclesiasticus  xxvi. 
16  ;  and  iv.  30.  "  Be  not  as  a  lion  in  thy  oikia,  and  frantic 
among  thy  servants  .'" — Here  a  parallelism  is  intended.  The 
term  frantic  is  parallel  to  lion  ;  and  servant  is  parallel  to  oikia, 
or  household. — 2  Maccabees  iii.  30.  "  But  if  any  one,  old  or 
young,  shall  conceal  any  Jew,  he,  with  all  his  household, 
natoi-AKx^  shall  be  put  to  death  with  the  most  ignominious 
torments."— Here  the  master  is  distinct  from  liis  servants, 
and  both  family  and  servants  are  threatened  by  the  edict ; 
because  servants  are  privy  in  cases  of  concealment :  and  the 
intention  of  this  edict  was  to  deter  universally. 

We  have  a  passage  in  which,  without  falsifying  history,  it 
is  IMPOSSIBLE  to  include  the  family  in  the  term  oikia,  Phil, 
iv.  22.  "  All  the  saints  salute  you,  especially  those  who  are 
of  Ccesar's  household,"  oixiag.  Not  one  of  Caesar's  family, 
then,  was  at  this  time  converted  to  Christianity  ;  though  igome 
of  his  household  attendants,  servants  or  courtiers,  were.  The 
names  of  several  are  on  record,  and  apparently  meationed  in 
Scripture. 

The  conclusion  therefore  is,  as  in  the  instance  of  Noah's 
family,  that  the  servants  are  of  necessity  excluded  from  the 
oikos  ;  and  in  this  instance  of  Caesar's  oikia,  the  family  is  ex- 

4 


38  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

cliuled,  OF  EQUAL  NECESSITY.  Thcsc  tcmis  cannot  be  regularly 
and  grammatically  interchangeable.  In  this,  the  metapho- 
rical or  figurative  acceptation  of  the  terms  coincides  completely 
with  their  primary  and  proper  import.  The  terms  oikos  and 
oikia  when  wse A  figuratively  are  not  regularly  and  gramma- 
tically interchanged  in  Scripture  language. 

The  Septuagint  translation  justifies  the  general  principle. 

Jacob  luas  a  plain  man  dwelling  in  tents.  Sep.  oixntv  oixiay. 
Two  manuscripts,  the  Aldine  edition,  and  Cyril.  Al.,  read 
otxwj'  (V  oiMiu.  He  oikoscd  in  the  nikia  of  his  father.  He 
occupied  a  portion  of  the  general  establishment  of  Isaac  ;  en- 
joyed the  patriarchal  and  patrimonial  tent.  This  is  another 
instance  of  oikia  being  much  more  extensive  than  oikos  :  and 
is  a  proof  that  tents  were  known  under  the  general  appellation 
of  houses  ;  as  they  are  at  this  day,  among  the  Arabs. 

Exodus  i.  21.  He  made  them  houses.  Sep.  enoirjaey 
eavTuig  oixiag. — Aqnila, eTjoirjae f  fuviuig  otxovc. — Symmachus, 
SnotTjOfP  iavTaig  oiyiug. — Theodotion,  enoirjasv  avTa<f  oixovg. 
— Gr.  Ven.  enoirjaey  ovy  exsiynv  doftog^  So/uovg. — The  meaning 
is  well  explained  by  a  Greek  scholiast  in  Caten.  Nicet. 
lotovrov  sgv  TO,  Bnoiijaev  avraig  oixovg,  jovi^  eqir  7jv^rjney  uvraig 
10  yevog.  The  writer's  thought  is,  that  inasmuch  as  the  mid- 
wives  had  assisted  the  Israelite  women,  rendering  them 
mothers  of  children,  therefore  the  Lord  assisted  the  niidwives, 
and  rendered  them  in  return  mothers  of  numerous  families. 
The  Greek  scholiast  employs  oikos  in  such  a  manner  that 
having  in  his  mind  the  idea  of  the  parturition  of  the  midwives, 
he  becomes  an  additional  and  effectual  evidence  for  the  accep- 
tation of  the  term,  oikos,  in  the  sense  of  family  or  issue  of  the 

body INFANTS. 

The  term  House  in  the  sense  of  family  is  metaphorical  ; 
and  is  derived  from  the  term  House  in  the  original  sense  of 
a  Building  ;  not  a  tent,  but  a  fixed,  permanent,  and  lasting  res- 
idence. Now  as  we  always  can  recur  to  the  proper  use  of 
the  term,  and  as  it  is  used  metaphorically  in  several  languages, 
and  as  there  is  a  corresponding  similarity  between  the  ori- 
ginal object  and  the  significative  appellation,  our  inquiries 
into  its  meaning  must  be  satisfactory.  Therefore  I  present  the 
plan  of  a  house  in  ancient  Greece,  sufficient  for  every  purpose 
of  illustration. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 


39 


Garden  or  Grounds. 


HOUSE. 

+ + 


OIKOS. 


+  • 


-f 


Entrance. 


Here  is  the  separation  of  the  out-houses  from  the  principal 
dwelling.  It  is  evident  that  the  house  cannot  be  said  to  in- 
clude the  giounds  and  out-houses :  the  house  might  be  built 
up  or  pulled  down,  enlarged  or  diminished,  without  affecting 
the  out-houses.  But  the  out-houses  include  the  house  :  — 
and  the  whole  may  be  expressed  by  one  comprehensive  term 
—  establishment,  premises,  residence  or  place- 
Such  is  the  proper  and  real  application  of  the  term  house. 
Our  present  object  is  to  trace  the  conformity  of  the  metaphor- 
ical application  of  the  term  to  this  reality.  There  cannot  be 
equal  authority  on  this  subject  to  that  of  Aristotle.  In  wri- 
ting on  the  polity  of  cities,  Aristotle  thus  defines  a  House. 
*•  A  House  is  a  Society  or  Companionship  connected  together 
according  to  the  course  of  nature,  for  long  continuance. 
Such  a  Society  is  called  by  Charondas,  '  those  who  eat  from 
the  same  cupboard,^  or  pantry  ;  but  it  is  called  by  Epimenides, 
the  Ci-etun,  '  those  who  sit  around  the  same  fire- side  i' ''"'  —  Or, 
as  Du  Val,  the  editor  of  Aristotle  supposes,  "  those  who  sit 
around  the  same  table."  Such  a  Society,  says  Aristotle,  is 
an  oiKos,  or  house.— Aristotle,  Pol.  Lib.'i.  c.  2.* 


Societas  igitur  in  omneis  vitje  dies  constituta,  Naturae  conveniens 


40  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

But  the  old  Grecian  distinguishes  between  oikos,  House, 
oiKiA,  House-HOi.D,  exactly  as  Scripture  distinguishes. 
Speaking  of  a  city,  he  says,  Polit.  Lib.  i.  c.  3,  "In  order  to 
obtain  a  clear  idea  of  the  parts  of  which  a  city  is  composed, 
it  is  necessary  that  we  should  previously  explain  what  an 
OIKIA  is.  For  every  city  is  composed  of  connected  oikias  : 
and  further,  an  oikia  is  composed  of  several  parts  ;  and  these 
placed  together  in  their  stations,  constitute  the  oikia.  But  a 
COMPLETE  oikia  Comprises  the  servants  and  those  who  are 
free."*  By  "/ree"  Aristotle  means,  the  Master  and  his  fam- 
ily :  one  who  is  capable  of  citizenship  ;  one  "  among  those 
who  are  free  by  nature."!  He  afterwai-ds  expatiates  on  this 
definition,  speaking  of  the  wife  as  being  "  free  •"  not  as  among 
barbarians,  a  slave  ;  and  of  the  children,  as  being  "  free."  He 
says,  "  There  is  but  a  slight  difference  between  the  skill  re- 
quired to  govern  a  great  oikia  — //ow^c-hold— and  that  re- 
quired to  govern  a  small  city."  Nothing  can  be  clearer,  than 
that  the  term  ojAo.y  — House  — excludes  the  oikia— out-houses^ 
or  Hoiise-uoLT>  ;  but  the  term  oikia  includes  the  House. 

If  Aristotle  had  met  with  the  term  house  in  reading  the  New 
Testament,  what  would  he  have  understood  by  it  ''.  —  or  rather, 
what  would  any  "unlettered  Greek  man,  having  only  the 
Greek  New  Testament  in  his  hand,"  have  understood,  when 
reading  in  his  native  language  —  "  We  baptized  Lydia,  tvilk 
her  society  connected  together  according  to  the  course  of  nature 
for  long  continuance" — "  We  baptized  the  Jailor,  vntk  all  those 
who  eat  from  the  same  cupboard  as  himself."  —  "  I  baptized  those 
who  sit  around  the  same  f  reside  with  my  valued  friend  Ste- 
phanas"—or,  "  I  baptized  those  who  sit  around  the  same  table 
with  my  honoured  friend"     A  Greek  reader  must  have  under- 


et  consentanea,  Domus  est :  cujtis  societatfs  participes  et  consortes» 
ofioaLnvoti  Charondas  appellat,  id  est,  eodem  panario,  seu  ex  eadem  apo- 
theca  victum  somentes  :  nos  convictimus  appellemus  :  Epimenides 
autem  Cretensrs  o^ok-arroif,  id  est,  uno  et  communi  foco  seu  fumo  uten- 
teis  :  dicamus,  si  placet,  conlubernaleis. 

Efffl  it  (pavcpov  e^  fiopioiv  /jv  woXij  (rvvcsmx^",  nvayKr\  jjrspt  otKovufjiai^  l'^^ 
TTCpi  ojifia?,  ciTTttv  -npoTcpov.  naaa  yap  ttoXij,  c^  o'lKiMV  cvyKtirai  oi/cio?,  lege  otKov- 
Ofitai,  it  I'tprj,  tf  ojii  avOis  oUia  ffinrurai"  oiVia  (5t    rtXti^s,  £«  (J)wXwi',  Kai  cXevOt- 

pa>v.  Quando  autem  perspicuiim  est  quibus  ex  partibus  constet  civitas, 
necessario  de  Domo  prius  dicendum  est.  Omnis  enim  Civitas  ex  dom- 
ibus  et  familiis  componitur.  Domus  porro  partes  sunt,  ex  quibus  Domus 
constituitur  ;  at  Domus  perfecta  atque  Integra,  ex  servis  et  liberis 
constat. 

+  ;;  fitv  ynp,  c\cvdepMv  <pvasi.  iji/  it,  iov>.<,>v  cTi'     Civilis  est  liberorum  na« 
tura  :  herile  imperium  vero,  servorum. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  41 

Stood  this  term— house— inn,  very  extensive  sense  :  including 
not  only  all  the  children,  in  every  stage  of  life  but  some- 
thing more. 

But  the  elegance  of  the  last  definition,  though  conjectural, 
"  those  toho  sit  around  the  same  table"  reminds  me  of  the  ex- 
quisite comparison  of  the  Psalmist,  Psalm  cxxviii.  3—"  Thy 
wife  shall  be  like  a  fruitful  vine,  by  the  side  of  thy  house  ;  thy 
children  like  olive  plants  round  about  thy  table." 

Though  writing  in  Greek,  the  Apostles  were  Hebrews  by 
descent ;  and  perfectly  familiar  with  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
and  with  the  Hebrew  language,  as  spoken  by  their  nation. 
Beyond  a  doubt,  they  used  the  term  house  in  the  same  sense 
as  it  is  used  by  the  Old  Testament  writers  ;  hence  we  have 
only  to  consult  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  and  rest  our  inquiry 
on  their  answer. 

According  to  the  Hebrews,  the  metaphorical  derivation  of 
the  term  House  was  from  the  circumstance  of  a  dwelling- 
house  being  built  up  of  stones.  A  metaphorical  House, 
therefore,  a  family,  was  a  building  of  living  stones.  Now 
which  are  the  proper  living  stones  to  build  up  a  family  or 
house/  — are  they  the  seniors  or  the  juniors?  — Is  the  infant 
born  to-day,  or  the  man  of  a  hundred  years  old  who  dies  to- 
morrow ? —  And  here  I  will  not  allow  you  to  say,  "the  term 
house,  as  used  in  the  Old  Testament,  implies  the  Elders  of 
the  family,  strictly  and  properly  ;  but  the  infants  accidentally, 
and  improperly."  I  affirm  on  the  contrary,  that  the  direct, 
straight-forward,  explicit,  and  unquestionable  reference  of  the 
term  House  is  to  the  Infants,  primarily  and  properly  ;  and  to 
the  seniors,  or  even  to  the  Parents,  if  at  all,  only  accidentally, 
improperly,  and  occasionally.  The  'proof  of  this  may  safely 
rest  on  the  following  passages. 

2  Sam.  vii.  27.  "  Thou,  O  Lord  God  of  Israel,  hast  revealed 
to  thy  servant,  saying,  I  will  build  thee  a  house,"  will  estab- 
lish thy  family.  1  Chron.  xvii.  25.  2  Sam.  vii.  11,29; 
The  Lord  telleth  thee  that  he  will  make  thee  a  house. 

"  Now  let  it  please  thee  to  bless  the  Aow.se  of  thy  servant — 
and  with  thy  blessing  let  the  house  of  thy  servant  be  blessed 
for  ever,"  his  family.  1  Kings  xi.  38.  Exod.  i.  21  ;  "And 
it  came  to  pass,  because  the  midwives  feared  God,  that  he 
made  them  houses,"  he  gave  them  numerous  families. 

Consult  the  history  of  Jacob  and  Rachel,  Gen.  xxx.  1-2  ; 
"  Give  me  children,  or  else  I  die,"  said  the  disappointed  wife. 
— Her  husband  replied  :  "  Am  I  in  God's  stead,  Avho  hath  with- 

4* 


42  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

held  from  thee  the  fruit  of  the  womb  ?"  Psahn  cxxvii.  Except 
the   Jjord   build   the  house,  they  labour  in  vain  that  build  it. 

"  Lo  !  CHILDREN  are  a  heritage  of  the  Lord,  and  the  fruit  of 
the  womb  is  his  reward."  The  Hebrew,  very  remarkable 
here,  fixes  the  sense  to  issue  :  "  those  who  labour  to  build 
the  house.  i\  it." 

This  etymological  derivation  of  the  term  house  — as  import- 
ing a  metaphorical  building  —  continued,  and  was  adopted 
by  the  Apostles. 

Eph.  ii.  19-21.  Now  therefore,  ye  are  no  more  strangers 
and  foreigners,  but  fellow-ritizens  with  the  saints  and  mem- 
bers of  the  household-establishment  of  God  ;  and  are  built 
on  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;  in  whom  all  the  Build- 
ing, fitly  framed  together,  gTOweth  unto  a  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord:  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  an  habita- 
tion of  God  through  the  Spirit.      1  Peter  ii.  4,  5  ;  Coming  to 

the  Lord,  as  to  a  living,  life-giving  stone ye  also,  as  livi7ig 

stones  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,  family,  as  that  of 
Aaron,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices. — 
Titus  i.  11.  They  subvert  — overturn  whole  houses — fam- 
ilies :  the  very  reverse  of  building  up  :  v^-building. — These 
passages  are  decisive. 

In  proof  that  house  imports  children,  distinct  from  their 
parents.  — Deut.  xxxv.  9.  "  Then  shall  his  brother's  wife  spit 
in  his  face,  and  say,  so  shall  it  be  done  unto  that  man  who 
will  not  build  up  his  brother's  house," — by  obtaining 
children  — jn/an/5  — from  his  widow.  —  Gen.  xvi.2.  "Sarai  said 
unto  Abram,  the  Lord  hath  restrained  me  from  child-bear- 
ing :  I  pray  thee  go  in  unto  my  maid  ;  it  may  be  that  /  may 
obtain  children  by  her,''  "be  builded  by  her."  Gen.  xxx.  3. 
"  Rachel  said  to  Jacob,  behold  my  maid  Bilhah— she  shall  bear 
upon  my  knees,  that  /  may  also  have  children  by  her"  —  "  be 
builded  by  her."  Gen.  vii.  The  Lord  said  to  Noah,  come 
thou  AND  all  thy  house  into  the  ark. 

The  parent  is  distinguished  from  his  family.  —  1  Kings  xvii. 
8,  16.  The  widow  woman  of  Zarepta  did  according  to  the  say- 
ing of  Elijah  ;  — and  she,  and  he,  and  her  house,  did  eat  many 
days."  — Her  son  must  be  her  house,  distinct  from  his  mother; 
as  there  were  but  three  persons  concerned  in  the  history. 
Gen.  xl.— xlvi.  27.31.  "  Jacob  and  all  his  seed  came  into 
Egypt,  his  sons,  his  sons'  sons,  his  daughters  and  his  sons' 
daughters,  all  his  seed.  All  the  souls  which  came  out  of  his 
loins  — k\\  the  souls  of  the  house  of  Jacob  were   threescore 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  43 

and  ten." The  phrase  those  which  came  out  of  the  loins 

of  Jacob,  must  exckide  Jacob  himself.  Numb,  xviii.  11. 
"  The  heave -offerings  have  I  given  to  thee  and  thy  sons,  and 
to  thy  daughters  with  thee,  every  one  that  is  clean  in  thy 
HOUSE."  The  parent  is  evidently  not  comprised  in  the  term 
house.  — Dewi.  xxvi.  11.  Thou  shalt  rejoice  in  every  good 
thing  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee,  and  unto  thine 
HOUSE.  The  distinction  is  here  preserved  also.— 2  Sam. 
xiii.  11.  "I  will  raise  up  evil  against  thee  David,  out  of  thine 
own  Ao«5e;"— from  among  thy  children. 

That  this  distinction  between  parents  and  children,  con- 
tinued, and  was  adopted  hy  the  Apostles,  is  manifest  from 
— Lydia,  and  her  house  ; — the  Bishop,  and  his  house  : — 
the  Deacon,  antZhis  house  : — the  family  of  Stephanas,  separate 
from  himself; — the  family  of  Crispus,  separate  from  himself; 
— the  family  of  Onesiphorus  separate,  &c. 

In  proof  that  house  means  infants,  explicitly. — Numb, 
xvi.  27,  32.  Dathan  and  Abiram  came  out  and  stood  in  the 
door  of  their  tents,  and  their  wives,  and  their  sons,  and  their 
LITTLE  CHILDREN. — Aiid  the  earth  opened  her  mouth  and 
swallowed  them  up,  and  their  houses. — Their  little  children, 
then,  were  their  houses. — Job  xx.  28.  "  The  increase  of  his 
house  shall  roll  away  ;  shall  flow  away  as  a  torrent  flows,  in 
the  day  of  his  wrath."  The  term  "  increase  of  a  house," 
means  a  family,  1  Sam.  ii.  3. — Psalm  Ixviii.  6.  "  Godsetteth 
the  solitary  man  in  families:"  in  a  house — infants. 
Psalm  cxiii.  9.  God  maketh  the  barren  woman  to  sit  in  her 
HOUSE — family;  the  joyful  mother  of  children,  infants. — 
Isaiah  xiii.  6.  Their  children  shall  be  dashed  to  pieces  before 
their  eyes,  their  houses  shall  be  spoiled.  The  Medes  shall 
not  regard  silver,  nor  delight  in  gold. — Their  bows  shall  dash 
the  young  men  to  pieces  :  they  shall  have  no  pity  on  the  fruit 
of  the  womb  :  their  eye  shall  not  spare  children  — It  was  not 
the  dwelling  houses  which  the  Medes  were  to  spoil,  for  they 
regarded  not  silver  nor  gold  which  are  the  natural  spoil  of 
dwelling  houses  ;  but  houses  in  the  sense  of  families — the 
fruit  of  the  womb — infants. 

House  means  Infants,  before  they  are  conceived — conse- 
luently,  when  they  are  not  present. — Gen.  xviii.  19.  "I 
know  Abraham,  that  he  will  command  his  children,  even 
his  HOUSE,  after  him."  Here  Isaac  is  spoken  of  as  house 
to  Abraham,  in  the  close  of  the  day  on  which  he  was 
promised  by  the  three  Angels  ;  consequently  before  his  con- 
ception.— 2  Sam.  vii.   11-16.     "The  Lord  telleth  thee  that 


44  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

he  will  MAKE  thee,  a  house aiid  set  up  thy  seed  after 

thee,  which  shall  proceed  out  of  ihy  bowels." — Consequently, 
this  infant,  David's  successor,  was  not  yet  begotten. — Ruth 
iv.  12.  "  All  the  people  that  were  in  the  gate,  and  the  ciders 
said — The  Lord  make  the  woman  that  is  come  into  thy 
dwelling  house,  like  Rachel  and  like  Leah,  which  two  did 
BuiLU  UP  the  house  of  Israel  : — And  let  thy  house,  family, 
be  like  the  house  of  Pharez,  whom  Tamar  bare  unto  Judah, 

OF  THE  SEED  WHICH  THE  LORD  SHALL  GIVE  THEE  OF  THIS 
YOUNG   WOMAN." 

It  is  not  possible  by  any  form  of  words  whatever,  to  express 
InfantS'  more  decidedly,  than  by  these  applications  of  the 
term  house  :  and  if  there  were  no  other  text  in  the  Old 
Testament,  this  last  alone  is  sufficient  to  establish  the  propo- 
sition that  the  term  house  in  Old  Testament  language  must 
mean  an  infant.  The  building  up  the  house  of  Israel  is  infunt- 
child-bearing.  Thv  house  — the  "  seed  which  the  Lord 
SHALL  GIVE  THEE  of  this  young  womau,"  MUST  mean  an  infant. 
This  is  the  national  and  acknowledged  language,  used  by 
"  all  the  people  that  were  in  the  gate ;"  not  by  the  vulgar 
only,  but  by  those  well  instructed,  by  the  elders  ;  and  this 
took  place  before  Boaz  was  married  :  for  it  follows — "  So  Boaz 
took  Ruth  to  wife." 

Thus  an  infant  is  expressed  in  Old  Testament  language 
by  the  terra  house,  both  by  the  side  of  the  father  and  mother, 
even  before  it  is  begotten.  The  same  usage  of  the  word 
continued  and  -was  adopted  by  the  Apostles,  as  is  clear  from 
the  case  of  the  young  women,  1  Timothy  v.  14  ;  concerning 
whom  Paul  says,  as  of  a  future  event,  that  he  would  have 
them  marry,  bear  children,  despotize  their  house  or  family ; 
in  exact  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  elders  and  the 
people,  in  behalf  of  Boaz  and  Ruth.  Let  us  reduce  the  result 
to  conclusive  evidence. 

By  what  was  Sarah  and  Rachel  builded  up  ?  By  Infants. 
— What  does  the  term  houses  imply  ?  Little  Children. — 
In  what  house  does  God  set  the  solitary  man  ?  In  an  Infant 
family. — In  what  house  does  God  set  the  barren  woman  ?  In 
an  Infant  family. — What  is  the  increase  of  a  house  ?  Infants. 
— What  is  a  house  in  the  sense  of  fruit  of  the  womb  ?  Infants. 
— What  was  to  be  commanded  by  Abraham,  as  his  house  ? 
His  expected  Infant  Isaac. — What  house  was  the  seed  which 
should  proceed  out  of  thine  own  bowels  ?  An  Infant.  — 
What  house  was  the  seed  which  the  Lord  shall  give  of  the 
young  woman  ?     An   Infant. — In  these   ten   instances,  and 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  45 

twenty  might  be  added,  the  term  house  must  signify  Infants  ; 
and  moreover,  it  is  used  for  Infants,  though  not  actually  present. 
But  an  objection  to  this  inference  has  thus  been  propounded. 
— "  If  the  argument  be  made  to  turn  rather  upon  words  than 
things,  there  is  always  this  risk  that  the  disputants  become 
involved  in  all  the  difficulties  arising  from  the  attempt  to  fix 
the  meaning  of  words  which  are  necessarily  fleeting,  as  well 
as  from  their  incompetent  acquaintance  with  a  dead  language. 
Every  linguist  knows  that  the  woxAs  pais,paidos,  hrephos,bre- 
phylUon,  tecnon,  puer,  puerutus,  parvulus,  infans,  infantulus, 
piccieriUo,  infante,  infanta,  infanzo,  enfant,  barne,  infant,  child, 
are  used  indiscriminately  for  minors,  whether  they  be  twenty 
days  or  twenty  years  old ;  and  sometimes  for  terms  of  endear- 
ment at  any  age.  Hence  it  happens  that  we  hear  of  "  an 
infant  who  was  hanged  for  killing  his  tutor," — of  "  the  last 
•will  and  testament  of  the  little  infant,  infantulus,  Adald,"  aged 
eighteen — of  the  "  Speculum  parvulorum,"  or  mirror  of  little 
ones,  that  is,  of  the  simple  or  little  ones  in  understanding — of 
the  "  childe  of  the  age  of  xiiii  yere,  vesture  pryce  iii  shillings," 
in  a  statute  of  Henry  VII. —  of  "the  barne,  the  young 
man,  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth."  In  a  book  of  sacred  dramas 
"  compiled  by  Johan  Bayle,  we  find  Jolm  the  Baptist,  or 
"  Johan  the  dapper,"  called  puer. 

Pater  cetlestis. 
Preache  to  the  people,  rebukynge  their  negligence, 
Doppe  them  in  water,  they  knoicledsynge  their  offence, 
And  say  unto  them  the  kingdom  of  God  doth  cum. 

John  Baptist. 
Unmete  Lord  I  am,  Q,uia  puer  ego  sum. 

Thus  Luke  the  Evangelist,  and  Paul  the  Apostle,  however 
intent  on  relating  the  practice  of  the  Apostles  in  respect  to 
Infant  Baptism,  are  prohibited  the  use  of  the  Avord  Infant  !  ! 
Let  him  not  dare  to  say,  we  baptized  children  : — neither  pais, 
paidos,  brephos,  brephyllion,  tecnon,  puer,  puerulus,  parvulus, 
infans,  infantulus,  piccieriUo,  infante,  infanzo,  enfante,  barne, 
infant  or  child,  if  met  with  in  his  writings  connected  with 
Baptism,  could  signify  what  it  universally  signifies,  or  co^lld 
mean,  what  else  whore  it  really  does  mean.  In  Homer,  a 
child  imports  a  child: — but  in  New  Testament  Greek,  it 
imports  a  man.  Of  what  avail  then  is  the  argument,  "  if  the 
Apostles  meant  to  say  they  baptized  children,  why  did  they 
not  use  the  term  child  ?  Children  are  mentioned  on  occasions 
of  much  less  importance  ;  why  are  they  not  mentioned  in 


4(6  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

connection  with  baptism  ?" — The  answer  is  easy.  The  New 
Testament  writers  well  understood  that  those  names  were 
liable  to  ambiguity  ;  and  they  might  foresee  that  in  after  ages 
men  would  pervert  the  meaning  of  the  terms,  had  they  used 
them  !  Happily,  they  have  not  once  used  such  equivocal 
denominations,  in  reference  to  baptism.  Instead  of  saying 
"  we  baptized  men,  women,  and  children,"  in  three  words  ; 
they  tell  us  so  in  a  plamcr  and  viorc  direct  manner,  in  one 
word ;  and  to  that  word,  both  Greek  and  Jew  attached  the 
same  import  and  application. 

Therefore  with  the  preceding  ten  instances  of  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  term  houi;c  in  the  Old  Testament  language,  and 
with  every  demonstration  of  the  continued  sense  and  adoption 
of  the  term  by  the  Apostles,  to  the  same  purport  and  intention 
and  without  variation  in  the  New  Testament ;  I  ask — what 
did  the  Apostles  baptize,  when  they  say  they  baptized  houses  ? 

What  would  a  pious  Hebrew  Christian  reading  the  New 
Testament  have  understood  by  the  term  house  in  the  days  of 
the  Apostles,  when  he  found  it  in  various  parts  of  their  sacred 
writings  ?  Coidd  he  possibly  have  separated  from  it  the  idea 
of  Infants  ?  And  if  he  had  been  told  that  it  was  to  be  taken 
as  excluding  Infants,  would  he  not  have  complained  of  the 
deception  practised  on  him  ?  Would  he  not  have  said — "  If 
the  New  Testament  writers  use  this  word  in  a  sense  never 
before  known  in  our  nation,  a  sense  entirely  new  and  contra- 
dictory to  common  and  popular  acceptation,  why  did  they  not 
tell  us  so  ?  IIow  are  we  to  understand  them,  if  not  by  the 
language  which  they  adopt,  and  how  are  we  to  understand 
their  language,  if  not  in  its  popular  and  fixed  acceptation ; 
the  same  as  that  in  which  it  has  uninterruptedly  been  em- 
ployed from  the  days  of  our  father  Abraham  to  this  very  day  ; 
and  in  which  it  is  now  used  ?* 

Do  those  Evangelist  Avriters  ever  drop  any  hint  of  such 
novelty  and  deviation  ?  So  far  from  it,  they  give  this  term 
the  most  comprehensive  sense  possible.     They  speak  of  the 


•  The  present  customs  of  the  East  add  their  testimony  to  this  princi- 
ple. D'Arvicux,  in  his  "  Manners  of  thp  Arahs,"  says-  "  The  Arabs 
never  speak  of  their  wives,  nor  does  any  person  speak  concerning  their 
females  Lu  them  ;  but  indirectly  they  say,  "  my  house,"  and  "  those  at 
home;'"  instead  of"  my  wife  and  my  daughters!"  When  one  inquires 
after  their  health,  it  isby  this  form,  "  how  does  your  house  ?"  and  "  hotv 
do  those  of  your  house  do  ?"  Besides  its  application  to  the  general 
subject ;  this  authoritative  fact  favours  the  conjecture,  that  daughters 
were  the  house  of  Lydia. 


SUBJECTS  Of  BAPTISM.  47 

whole  house  of  Crispus,  Acts  xviii.  8 ;  and  no  exception  is 
marked.  Aristotle,  Poet.  16,  says  ;  oXov  8e  eqt  to  f;^o» ,  xai  fiS' 
(jof,  xa»  Tslevrr^f — "  The  Avhole  includes  beginning,  middle, 
and  end." — No  ;  say  some  moderns,  it  only  includes  the 
beginning ! — We  baptized  ALL  the  house  of  the  Jailor,  says 
the  Evangelist,  Acts  xvi.  34.  But  it  is  retorted — when  the 
Evangelists  say  all,  they  do  not  mean  all  ;  they  only  intend 
some ! — When  our  Lord  said  to  his  Disciples  ;  "  Drink  you 
all"  of  the  sacramental  cup  ;  did  he  mean,  only  two  or  four 
of  you  drink  of  it  ?  When  he  says  ;  go  and  disciple  all 
nations ;  does  he  mean  some  nations  only  ? — To  contract  the 
free  grace  of  God  ! — to  narrow  the  extensiveness  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ ! — is  impiety,  if  not  incipient  blasphemy — and  allied 
to  it  is  the  desire  to  exclude  from  baptism  any  member  of 
a  " //owAf,"  concerning  which  an  Apostle  or  an  Evangelist 
says,  the  whole,  or  all  were  baptized ! 

Oixog. — The  Greek  term  for  house,  oikos,  corresponds  ex- 
actly with  our  usage  of  the  English  word  ;  and  the  distinctions 
are  uniformly  preserved  throughout  Scripture,  without  any 
instance  of  confusion  or  interchange.  As  applied  to  persons, 
this  Greek  term  signifies  a  continued  descending  line  of  many 
generations.  So  we  have  the  house  of  Israel,  and  house  of 
David,  the  nearest  line  by  consanguinity  that  can  be  drawn  to 
Israel,  to  Da\T.d,  through  any  indefinite  number  of  generations. 
It  signifies  also  d^  family  living  at  the  same  time,  and  usually 
under  one  roof,  contemporaries .  With  the  addition  of  a  syllable, 
oiki-AS,  oiyi,-A^,  it  changes  its  application,  and  imports  the 
attendants  on  a  family,  the  servants  of  various  kinds,  or  the 
house-HOhD  ;  whoever  holds  to  the  house.  Marriage  or  adop- 
tion might  engraft  a  member  of  the  house-hold  into  the  family  ; 
yet  that  is  not  according  to  the  appointment  of  natiu-e,  but  is 
an  arbitrary  convention  of  civil  society. 

The  term  house,  in  the  sense  of  a  building,  or  as  signifying 
a  series  of  descending  generations,  can  have  no  connection 
with  the  subject  of  baptism  of  persons.  Neither  has  the  term 
house-noLB  any  immediate  connection  with  this  subject; 
Scripture  afibrding  no  instance  of  a  house-uoLo  being  bap- 
tized, as  such ;  though  individuals  comprised  in  it  might  be. 
We  are  therefore  restricted  to  the  consideration  of  the  term 
house  in  the  sense  of  family  :  and  it  corresponds  perfectly 
with  our  English  term.  Had  it  been  rendered /awi'/y  at  first, 
no  error  could  have  arisen  on  the  subject  of  Baptism.  There 
can  be  no  family  without  children.  A  man  and  his  wife  are 
not  a  family.     When  a  young  woman  is  advanced  in  preg- 


46  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

nancy,  she  is  "  in  the  family  way ;"  — when  her  child  is  born, 
she  has  a  family  ;  yet  this  term  is  seldom  used  absolutely, 
unless  three  or  four  children  or  more  compose  i\ic  family.  A 
widow  with  six  or  eight  children  is  left,  we  say,  with  a  large 
family  :  and  speaking  of  them,  we  ask,  "  whether  the  v:hole 
family  be  well  ?  — whether  all  be  at  home  ?" 

The  same  precisely  is  the  application  of  the  Greek  term 
oixog,  in  the  New  Testament.  I  know  no  instance  in  wliich 
it  imports  a  married  pair  not  having  children  ;  or  the  parents 
distinct  from  their  children  :  but  in  several  instances  it  im- 
ports children  distinct  from  their  parents.  For  the  Apostle 
Paul  baptized  the  family  of  Stephanas ;— but  he  did  not  bap- 
tize Stephanas  himself;  and  he  salutes  the  family  of  Oncsi- 
phorus,  but  omits  Onesiphorus  himself,  who  was  probably  ab- 
sent from  them  ;  or  he  might  have  been  dead,  leaving  an 
unsettled  family  behind  him. 

Scripture  always  employs  this  term  oixog,  family,  to  import 
the  nearest  dei^ree  of  kindred ; — by  consanguinity  generally, 
yet  not  excluding  marriage ;  and  by  descent  generally  ;  yet 
in  one  instance  by  ascent  of  parentage  : — never  varying  how- 
ever from  the  notion  of  the  nearest  possible  degree  of  kindred. 

It  excludes  servants  or  the  House-Hoi.D.  An  unimpeach- 
able instance  of  this  presents  itself  in  the  allusion  to  Noah, 
Heb.  xi.  7,  who  was  saved  by  means  of  the  ark,  wilh  his 
FAMILY.  The  Apostle  Peter  assures  us,  1  Peter  iii.  20,  that 
only  eight  persons  were  saved  in  tlie  ark ;  Noah  with  his 
wife,  and  his  three  sons  with  their  wives  ;  it  follows,  that  no 
part  of  his  House-uoLD  is  included  in  the  term  "family,"  used 
by  the  writer  to  the  Hebrews.  The  children  of  Noah  saved 
with  him  in  the  ark,  were  certainly  adults,  for  chronologers  al- 
low the  youngest  of  them  a  hundred  years  of  age  :  I  proceed 
therefore  to  show,  that  this  term  family,  denotes  not  only 
minors,  but  children  in  the  youngest  possible  state  of  life. 

The  Apostle,  describing  the  qualifications  for  a  Christian 
bishop,  1  Tim.  iii.  4,  insists  that  he  should  be  "one  who  ru- 
leth  well  HIS  own  family,  having  his  children  in  subjection 
with  all  gravity — for  if  a  man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own 
family,  how  shall  he  take  care  of  the  church  of  God  ?" 
Here  it  is  evident,  the  children  are  the  family ;  in  a  state  of 
non-age,  pupilage,  and  youth,  which  requires  ruling  and  guid- 
ance by  their  father. 

In  1  Timothy  iii.  12,  we  find  a  precept  which  directs  that 
a  Deacon  be  the  husband  of  one  wife,  ruling  well  his  children, 
even  his  own  family — his  nearest  of  kin  — his  issue.     Lest 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  49 

this  should  admit  the  possibility  of  equivocation,  the  apostle 
marks  the  family  as  his  own.  Nothing  can  be  more  a  man's 
own  than  his  children  ;  and  the  force  of  the  Greek  term  war- 
rants any  degree  of  strength  that  can  be  annexed  to  it.— 
Therefore,  in  both  these  places  and  connections,  it  fixes  the 
parties  designed  by  it,  equally  in  reference  to  the  Bishop  as 
the  Deacon,  to  natural  issue  or  family.  Nor  can  these  chil- 
dren be  adults,  for  then  the  term  ruled  could  not  be  applied 
to  them  :  they  must  be  young  children,  under  their  father's  di- 
rection, subject  to  his  command  and  obedient  to  his  control : 
he  is  to  rule  them. 

But  these  children  being  under  the  rule  of  their  father, 
though  still  young,  are  somewhat  advanced  in  life.  In  proof 
that  the  term  family  imports  babes  and  sucklings,  consult  the 
advice  of  the  apostle  to  the  young  women,  1  Tim.  v.  14.  "  I 
would  have  the  young  widows  to  marry,  bear  children,  and 
guide  their  offspring  ;  oixodeanoieiv,  literally,  despotise  their 
family y  This  order  of  the  words  is  definitive  :  "  marriage, 
—  child-bearing,  —  ch.ildi-despotising.''''  This  third  term  must 
mark  that  guidance,  care,  and  assiduity  concerning  infant 
children,  which  mothers  feel  with  the  most  lively  anxiety. 
Who  interferes  with  a  mother's  solicitude  for  her  infant  ? — 
the  father  may  sympathize  with  it  when  indisposed  ;  he  may 
express  his  fondness  when  it  is  in  health  ;  but  it  is  the  mother 
who  must  despotise  it,  govern  it,  direct  all  its  motions  and 
watch  all  its  ways.  This  is  the  appointment  of  God  in  his 
Providence.  These  could  not  be  foster  children :  for  the 
apostle  speaks  of  child-bearing,  bearing  children  of  their  own 
body  ;  nor  could  they  be  adults,  for  then,  neither  could  their 
mother  despotise  them  ;  nor  could  she  be  young  if  her  chil- 
dren were  of  mature  age.  Observe  also  the  change  of  term. 
The  father,  Bishop  or  Deacon,  was  to  rule  his  family  ;  the 
mother  is  to  despotise  her  offspring,  her  infant,  with  maternal 
solicitude.  The  infant  family  is  of  necessity  attached  to  the 
mother  ;  and  the  mother  is  attached  to  the  infant  family,  by 
Divine  appointment. 

I  demand,  therefore,  valid  reasons  why  the  family  at- 
tached to  their  mother,  Lydia,  Acts  xvi.  15,  was  not  a  young 
family.  Moreover,  seeing  that  Daughters  are  always  more 
attached  to  their  mothers  than  sons  are,  and  for  a  longer  term 
of  years  ;  I  demand  also  imlid  reasons  for  denying  that  Ly- 
dia's  family  were  Daughters,  in  whole  or  in  part :  since  there 
is  the  greater  chance  that  they  were  Daughters,  rather  than 
Sons.     Lydia  was  a  native  of  Thyatira,  but  settled  at  Phil- 

5 


50  SUBJECTS  or  BAPTISM. 

ippi.  That  she  was  on  a  visit  or  on  a  journey  of  traffic,  docs 
not  appear.  That  conjecture  is  set  aside  by  the  mention  of 
her  faniily  and  her  residence,  which  must  have  been  a  large 
house,  to  accommodate  several  lodgers,  Paul,  Silas,  Luke, 
&c. ;  and  a  decent  congregation  in  addition  to  her  family. 

It  is  said  of  Lydia,  that  "  her  heart  was  opened  by  the 
Lord  :  and  that  she  attended  to  the  things  spoken  by  Paid  :" 
but  nothing  of  this  is  said  of  her  family.  The  baptism  of 
her  family  evidently  accompanied  her  own  ;  and  is  spoken  of 
as    a  matter  of  course   connected  with  her  own  baptism  — 

"  And  when  she  was  baptized,  and  her  family" — There 

is  no  salutation  to  any  of  Lydia's  family  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Philippians :— if  her  family  were  sons  of  mature  age  and 
members  of  the  church,  has  not  this  omission  its  difllculty  1 
The  fixing  of  the  term  brethren  to  the  family  of  Lydia,  in 
a  restricted  sense,  is  unwarranted  by  the  fair  construction 
of  the  passage.  In  the  instance  of  Lydia's /owii7y,  the  chil- 
dren mtghl  be  young  ;  and  every  thing  leads  to  that  conclu- 
sion ;  but  in  a  numerous  family,  the  certainty  that  some  must 
be  young  is  greatly  heightened. 

Scripture  uses  the  words  all  and  whole,  to  import  many  — 
numerous.  The  application  of  this  word  to  yawii/ic^  deserves 
notice.  It  imports  many  in  lesser  numbers.  Math.  xiii.  56  : 
"  his  mother  Mary,  and  his  brethren  James  and  Joses,  and 
Simon  and  Judas,  and  his  sisters,  are  they  not  all  with  us  ?" 
Admitting  an  equal  number  of  sisters  as  of  bretlixen,  it  makes 
eight  or  nine  with  the  mother  :  a  targe  or  numerous  family. 

The  nobleman  who  came  to  our  I/ord  to  beseech  him  to 
cure  his  son,  had  servants  who  met  him  ;  and  as  became  a 
nobleman,  literally  a  little  king,  he  had  a  numerous  household  ; 
for  we  read  John,  iv.  53  ;  "  the  father  believed  with  all  his 
household.*'  Now  here  notice  the  necessity  of  preserving 
the  distinction  between  house,  the  word  used  by  our  translators 
in  the  sense  oi  family,  and  house-HO-LV) ;  for  the  story  seems 
to  say  that  this  nobleman  had  only  one  son  :  but  he  had  many 
domestics  :  the  household  w^as  numerous,  but  all  this  house- 
hold was  believers. 

Paul  uses  the  term,  Acts  xvi.  28,  speaking  to  the  terrified 
jailor  —  "  Do  thyself  no  harm  ;  for  we  are  all  here  ;"  many 
prisoners,  beside  Paul  and  Silas. 

The  consequence  is  inevitable,  that  families  distinguished 
by  the  word  all  or  whole,  had  many  children  ;  since  chil- 
dren are  the  family.  Acts  xviii.  8  ;  Crispus,  the  ruler  of 
the  synagogue,  believed  with  all  his  numerous  family.    Cor- 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  51 

neliiis  the  Centurion  feared  God  with  all  his  numerous 
family,  Acts  x.  I .  This  particular  was  so  striking,  that  it  is 
repeated ;  for  Peter  reports  the  Angel  to  have  said  to  Cor- 
nelius, Acts  xi.  14;  that  not  only  himself,  but  "all  his 
family  should  be  sared,"  by  the  word  to  be  spoken  to  them. 
This  is  not  noticed  in  the  first  account  of  the  appearance  of 
the  angel ;  but  it  was  a  striking  fact ;  and  the  apostle  Imew 
it  to  be  true  from  his  own  observation.  This  is  included  also 
when  Cornelius  says — "  we  are  all  here  present  before 
God,  to  hear  all  things  that  are  commanded  thee  of  God" — 
my  family  is  numerous.  This  idea  even  runs  through  the 
story — "  moreover  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  who 
heard  the  word" — on  the  numerous  assembly.  As  Cornelius 
selected  for  his  piety,  the  soldier  whom  he  sent  to  Joppa,  who 
was  "  a  devout  man,"  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  he  also 
heard  the  discourse  of  Peter  to  the  family ;  and  most  proba- 
bly, those  two  domestics  who  accompanied  him  in  bringing 
Peter,  accompanied  him  also  at  this  meeting.  Now  as  the 
Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  who  heard  Peter  speak,  these  mem- 
bers of  the  house-//«/ti  of  Cornelius  were  among  the  first 
fruits  of  the  Gentiles  ; — but  they  were  not  of  his  family, 
though  consecrated  and  baptized  at  the  same  time  with  their 
master. 

The  assembly  baptized  at  Cornelius's,  was  a  kind  of  Epi- 
tome— representatives  of  the  future  Gentile  church  ;  and 
therefore  contained  individuals  of  every  description  ;  young 
and  old — rich  and  poor — masters  and  servants — high  and  low 
— foreigners,  natives  of  countries  near,  and  of  distant  countries. 
Julian  the  Apostate,  who  acknowledged  only  tuio  eminent 
converts  to  Christianity,  named  Cornelius  the  Centurion  as 
one  of  them. 

Now  is  it  probable,  that  Crispus  should  have  a  numerous 
family,  that  Cornelius  should  have  a  very  numerous  family, 
and  that  the  jailor  should  have  a  numerous  family , but  no  _yow«^ 
children  in  one  of  them  ?  although  the  word  expressly  signifies 
young  children  1  The  families  are  spoken  of  as  being  baptiz- 
ed ;  no  exceptions  are  marked :  and  the  most  numerous  of  all 
was  baptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  well  as  afterwards  with  water. 

This  leads  to  the  history  of  the  Philippian  jailor  who  re- 
joiced believing  in  God,  with  all  his  numerous  family ;  Acts 
xvi.  34.  He  could  not  have  been  an  old  man.  His  first 
intention  after  the  earthquake — "  he  drew  his  sword,  and 
would  have  killed  himself  " — is  not  the  character  of  age  which 
is  much  rtvore  deliberate  in  its  determinations.     The  action  i? 


52  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

that  of  a  fervid  mind.  In  like  manner,  "  he  called  for  lights, 
and  SPRANG  IN."  The  original  well  expresses  the  strenuous 
action  of  a  man  in  the  vigour  of  life  ;  yet  this  man  had  a 
NUMEROUS  FAMILY,  which  according  to  nature  must  have  con- 
tained young  children.  Cornelius  was  a  soldier  too,  and 
taking  human  life  as  generally  modified  by  professions,  had 
young  children  in  his  very  numerous  family. 

Luke  was  a  good  Greek  writer,  and  relates  the  history  of 
the  jailor  with  his  customary  precision.  He  says,  Paul  ad- 
vised him  ;  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  safe,  with  thy  family.  And  they  spake  unto  him  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that  were  in  his  house-i\oi,\),  to 
all  in  the  jail."  He  brought  all  in  his  power  under  the  word 
as  Cornelius  had  done  ;  but  it  is  not  said,  that  all  who  were 
in  his  house-uoi.T),  attendants,  prisoners,  &c.,  were  baptized, 
which  is  said  of  the  whole  company  at  Cornelius's,  but  "  he 
and  his  family  were  baptized:"  "he  rejoiced  with  all  his 
numerous  family  believing  in  God." — All  heard  the  word  :  but 
only  his  family  accompanied  the  jailor  in  baptism.  This 
Jailor  became  one  of  the  Philippian  brethren  ;  and  would  not 
lose  the  opportunity  of  attending  the  consolatory  exhortation 
at  Lydia's :  and  of  bidding  his  spiritual  fathers  farewell. 
The  baptism  of  this  family  is  spoken  of  as  that  of  Lydia  : 
as  the  ordinary  course  of  events  ;  the  children  arrompanying 
the  father,  as  is  perfectly  natural ;  but  his  family  was  more 
numerous  than  that  of  Lydia ;  as  appears  from  the  use  of  the 
word  all  which  is  not  applied  to  her  family. 

"  I  will  take  you,"  says  the  prophet,  Jer.  iii.  14  ;  "  one  of  a 
city,  or  two  of  a  tribe,  and  bring  you  to  Zion."  Considering 
the  isolated  nature  of  the  first  conversions,  it  is  wonderful 
that  we  have  so  many  instances  of  the  baptism  of  families  ; 
but  if  we  could  trace  the  establishment  of  a  church  within 
a  limited  neighbourhood,  we  might  expect  to  find  more  con- 
nected instances  of  this  practice. 

The  Church  at  Philippi,  though  apparently  consisting  of  a 
few  members  only,  especially  when  first  planted  by  the  Apos- 
tle Paul,  affords  two  families,  that  of  Lydia,  and  that  of  the 
Jailor  which  were  certainly  baptized. 

The  Church  at  Corinth  also  offers  two  families  baptized, 
that  of  Crispus  and  that  of  Stephanas  ;  besides  an  uncertain 
number  of  others. 

Stephanas  was  "  the  first  fruits  of  Achaia,"  1  Cor.  xvi.  15  ; 
and  Paul  confesses  that  he  baptized  his  family.  "  Crispus, 
the  chief  of  the  synagogue,  believed  on  the  Lord,  with  all 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  53 

his  numerous  family,  Acts  xviii.  8  ;  and  many  of  the  Corin- 
thians believed  and  were  baptized." 

The  family  of  Crispus  is  said  to  believe,  but  it  is  not  mark- 
ed as  BAPTIZED.  Their  baptism  will  readily  be  granted  ;  for 
to  leave  this  believing  family  unbaptized  would  cut  up  "  be- 
liever's baptism"  by  the  very  roots.  The  same  reasons  imply 
that  among  the  "  many  Corinthhms"  baptized,  others  beside 
Crispus  \id.A  families.  w 

Stephanas,  who  Avas  a  deputy  from  the  Church  of  Corinth 
to  Paul,  had  been  baptized  and  was  a  member  of  that  Church. 
Neither  of  these  particulars  is  recorded :  but  if  Stephanas 
were  not  of  their  body,  how  came  they  to  depute  him,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  answers  to  questions  in  which  their 
body  was  concerned  ?  and  if  his  family  were  not  attached  to 
the  Church  at  Corinth,  what  relation  could  it  have  to  the  state 
of  parties  in  that  Church  ?  or  why  recollect  it  in  conjunction 
with  Gains  and  Crispus  ?  Stephanas  their  father  is  described 
as  the  first-fruits  of  Achaia  ;  are  we  obliged  to  take  this 
term  in  the  sense  of  '■'■first  convert  V  This  worthy  man 
might  have  resided  at  a  short  distance  from  Corinth  ;  and  yet 
be  a  member  of  the  Corinthian  Church. 

The  Church  of  Corinth  then  presents  two  particulars  which 
have  not  heretofore  occurred  in  the  history  of  baptism  ; — 
that  Crispus  the  head  of  his  family  was  baptized  by  Paul, 
separately  from  his  family,  which  was  ■not  baptized  by  Paul  ; 
and  that  the  family  of  Stephanas  ■was  baptized  by  Paul,  sep' 
arately  from  its  head  ox  father  who  was  not  baptized  by  Paul : 
directly  contrary  to  what  we  have  remarked  of  Crispus. 

But  if  we  admit  that  the  family  of  Crispus  was  baptized, 
because  we  find  it  registered  as  believing,  then  we  must  admit 
the  same  of  all  other  families  which  we  find  marked  as  Chris- 
tians, though  they  be  not  expressly  described  as  baptized. 
That  of  Onesiphorus,  1  Tim.  i.  16,  18  ;  and  iv.  19;  which 
the  Apostle  distinguishes  by  most  hearty  good-will  for  their 
father's  sake,  not  for  their  own,  and  to  which  he  sends  a  par- 
ticular salutation.  Also,  that  of  Aristobulus,  and  that  of  Nar- 
cissus, Romans  xvi.  10,  11:  which  are  described  as  being 
"  in  Christ."  We  have  this  evidence  on  this  subject— /owr 
Christian  families  recorded  as  baptized — that  of  Cornelius,  of 
Lydia,  of  the  Jailor,  and  of  Stephanas.  Two  Christian  fami- 
lies not  noticed  as  baptized  — that  of  Crispus,  and  of  Onesi- 
phorus. r«;o  Christian  families  mentioned  neither  as  fami- 
lies nor  baptized — that  of  Aristobulus,  and  of  Narcissus. 
Eight  Christian  families,  and  therefore  baptized !  although  as 

5 


54  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

there  was  no  such  thing  previously  as  a  Christian  family, 
there  could  be  no  children  of  converts  to  receive  the  ordi- 
nance ! 

Have  w^e  eight  instances  of  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  ?  Not  half  the  number.  Have  we  eight  cases  of  the 
change  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  from  the  Jewish  ?  Not 
perhaps  one-fourth  of  the  number.  Yet  those  services  are 
vindicated  by  the  practice  o^^e  Apostles  as  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  How  then  can  we  deny  their  practice  on 
the  subject  of  Infant  Baptism,  when  it  is  established  by  a 
series  of  more  numerous  instances  than  can  possibly  be  found 
in  support  of  any  doctrine,  principle,  or  practice  derived  from 
the  example  of  the  Apostles  ?  Is  there  any  other  case  be- 
side that  of  Baptism,  on  which  we  would  take  families  at 
hazard  and  deny  the  existence  of  young  children  in  them  1 
Take  eight  families  at  a  venture  in  the  street,  or  eight  pews 
containing  families  in  a  place  of  worship,  they  will  afford 
more  than  one  young  child.  Take  eight  families  on  a  fair 
average  :  suppose  half  to  consist  of  four  children,  and  half  of 
eight  children  :  the  average  is  &ix :  calculate  the  chances, 
that  in  forty-eight  children,  not  one  should  be  an  infant :  it  is 
hundreds  of  thousands  to  one.  But  there  is  no  occasion  that 
absolute  infancy  should  be  the  object :  suppose  children  of 
two  or  three  years  old  ;  the  chances  would  be  millions  to  one, 
that  none  such  were  found  among  forty-eight  children, 
composing  six  families.  Or  supposing  Baptism  were 
completely  ought  of  sight — "  How  many  young  children 
would  be  found,  on  the  average,  in  eight  families,  each  con- 
taining six  children  V — What  proportion  do  these  eight  fam- 
ilies, identified  and  named  in  the  New  Testament,  bear  to 
that  of  Christians  also  identified  and  named  ?  The  number 
of  names  of  persons  converted  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  is  twenty-eight.  Four  baptized 
families  give  the  proportion  of  one  in  seven.  The  number  of 
names  of  similar  converts  in  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  ffty-jive.  How  many  converts  may  be  fairly  inferred 
from  the  History  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  ten  thousand  ? 
this  gives  one  thousand  baptized  families.  How  many 
from  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  one  hundred  thousand  ? 
— this  gives  ten  thousand  baptized  families.  How  many 
must  be  allowed  during  the  first  century  and  down  to  the  days 
of  Origen  ?  one  million  ? — it  gives  one  hundred  thousand 
baptized  families  :  ten  millions  ?  the  proportion  is  one  mil- 
lion OF  BAPTIZED  FAMILIES.     Tliis  Calculation  or  one  to  the 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  55 

same  effect,  can  neither  be  evaded  nor  confuted  ;  for  if  this 
proportion  be  reduced  one-half,  still  Origen,  whose  great- 
grandfather, grandfather  and  father  were  Christians  ;  and  who 
himself  travelled  into  the  countries,  and  among  the  churches 
where  Christianity  was  first  established,  who  "w^as  the  most 
inquisitive  and  learned  man  of  his  time,  could  not  be  ignorant 
whether  the  churches. received  infant  baptism  from  the  apos- 
tles or  not  ?  Could  he  have  any  inducement  to  deceive  or  to 
be  deceived  on  this  most  notorious  matter,  this  every-day 
public  occurrence  ?  Mr.  Booth  was  right  in  saying,  "  the  chil- 
dren of  proselytes  were  baptized  with  their  parents^''  among 
the  Jews ;  and  he  would  have  been  amply  justified  by  the 
New  Testament  in  adding — "  this  practice  the  apostles 

CONTINUED  AMONG  CHRISTIANS." 

It  is  said  ;  "  If  the  New  Testament  presents  so  many  in- 
stances of  baptized  families,  it  were  not  unreasonable  to  ex- 
pect that  some  allusion  to  them  should  occur  or  at  least  to 
some  part  of  them,  as  being  in  that  imperfect  state  of  Church 
relationship,  which  is  so  general  in  our  own  day ;  that  while 
they  may  be  said  to  belong  to  a  Church  in  some  respects, 
they  do  not  belong  to  it  in  others  ; — that  while  registered 
among  Christians,  nevertheless,  they  should  not  be  compe- 
tent to  appear  in  Church  transactions."  In  answer  to  this, 
observe  ;  that  where  families  were  baptized  previous  to  the 
formation  of  churches,  that  case  was  absolutely  impossible  ; 
— that  a  history  so  succinct,  as  that  in  the  Acts  of  the  first 
propagation  of  the  Gospel,  could  not  possibly  contain  express 
mention  of  every  supposable  fact ;  and  that  the  case  imagined 
could  only  happen  where  a  regular  and  numerous  church  was 
established.  Nevertheless,  the  counterpart  of  it  may  be  found. 
By  the  Apostle's  reproof  of  a  party  spirit  among  the  Corin- 
thians, we  learn  incidentally  and  unexpectedly,  the  baptism 
of  the  family  of  Stephanas.  The  Apostle  was  not  discussing 
the  subject  of  baptism,  but  was  intent  on  suppressing  party. 
Having  censured  this  disposition,  he  takes. occasion  to  thank 
God  that  his  party,  the  Paiilists,  was  so  few  !  for  how  many 
did  it  consist  of  in  the  Corinthian  Church  ?  only  two,  Cris- 
pus  and  Gains.  1  Cor.  i.  14-16.  "  /  thank  God  that  1  bap- 
tized none  of  you,  Corinthian  church-members,  except  Crispus 
and  Gains  ;  lest  any  should  say  that  I  had  baptized  in  my  own 
name,  and  so  had  formed  a  party  among  your  church.  How- 
ever, I  did  baptize  also  the  family  of  Stephanas ;"  but,  they 
are  out  of  the  question,  as  they  cannot  support  any  party. 
Beside,  or  as  to  the  rest  of  baptized  families,  /  do  not  recollect 


56  SUBJECTS  OF   BAPTI8M. 

that  I  baptized  any  other  family  :  —but  if  I  did,  they  also  are 
out  of  the  question ;  since  they  also  cannot  support  any  party 
in  the  Church. 

The  family  of  Stephanas  was  not  of  the  Corinthian  Church, 
so  effectually,  as  others  who  said,  "  I  am  of  Paul :"  or  to 
exert  any  activity  or  give  any  voice  in  party  discussions  ;  for 
had  it  been  completely  of  the  Corinthian  body,  then  the 
Apostle  must  have  baplized  others  of  that  body,  beside  Crispus 
and  Gaius,  which  he  denies.  Then  that  uncertain  number 
of  baptized  families,  which  he  denominates  "  the  rest," 
must  have  been  full  church  members,  equally  with  the  family 
of  Stephanas.  In  that  case,  it  would  have  been  to  his  pur- 
pose to  recollect  them,  lest  his  enemies  should  have  recol- 
lected them  for  him.  Nor  could  he  have  described  his  parly 
as  restricted  to  two  church-members  only,  when  it  might  have 
comprised  a  higher  number. 

Paul's  reference  to  many  baptized  families  completes  the 
epitomized  narrative  of  Luke  ;  who  tells  us,  Acts  xviii.  8 ; 
that  many  Corinthians  believed,  and  were  baptized  ;  but  he 
says  not  a  word  on  any  family  except  that  of  Crispus  ;  and 
nothing  about  the  baplisin  of  the  family  of  Crispus,  but  leaves 
us  to  infer  that,  as  the  natural  consequence  of  believing. 
Had  not  Paul  been  intent  on  reprimanding  the  Corinthians, 
because  of  their  party  disputes,  we  should  never  have  known 
that  Crispus  himself  was  baptized  ;  for  Luke  omits  that  fact  ; 
much  less,  should  we  ever  have  known  who  baptized  him. 
The  undeniable  inference  is,  that  there  were  many  baptisms 
conferred  on  persons  and  families  in  the  primitive  Church, 
which  are  not  mentioned.  We  see  one  instance  among  the 
Corinthians,  in  the  person  of  Crispus  and  his  family ;  and 
another,  in  the  family  of  Stephanas.  This  strengthens  the 
average  already  taken  of  such  baptisms  among  Christians 
not  mentioned  by  name  in  the  New  Testament;  that  baptized 
families  were  very  numerous  ! 

The  passage  divides  into  two  branches  : — Whom  Paul  did 
not  baptize  :  he  baptized  none  of  the  Corinthian  church 
members,  except  Crispus  and  Gaius.  He  rejoices  that  none 
can  charge  him  with  having  baptized  in  his  own  name  ;  and 
80  concludes  this  branch  of  his  subject,  referring  to  church 
members. — Whom  Paul  did  baptize  :  he  baptized  the  family 
of  Stephanas  ;  by  which  nevertheless,  his  party  in  the  Church 
at  Corinth  was  not  augmented.  Besides  this  there  were 
many  others.  Now  this  "  besides,"  or  as  it  is  better  ren- 
dered "  as  to  the  rest,"  and  also  those  "  others ;"  the  connec- 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  57 

tion  implies  that  they  really  were  baptized  families,  of  the 
same  description  as  the  immediate  antecedent,  the  baptized 
family  of  Stephanas  :— but  equally  with  that  family,  they 
were  incompetent  to  the  augmentation  of  a  party  in  the  Co- 
rinthian Church,  in  behalf  of  Paul  ;  for  which  reason  he 
passes  them.  Those  baptized  families  in  some  sense  belonged 
to  the  Church  at  Corinth  ;  yet  they  were  not  members  of  it  — 
what  but  the  youthful  state  of  these  baptized  families  preven- 
ted them  from  being  full  church-members,  capable  of  giving 
their  voices  in  behalf  of  the  Apostle  from  whom  they  had 
received  baptism  1 

Notwithstanding,  it  is  singular  that  a  writer,  treating  on  the 
subject  of  Baptism,  could  discover  in  Scripture  no  more  than 
three  instances  of  that  rite,  conferred  on  what  he  undistin- 
guishingly  calls  households.  Omitting  that  of  Cornelius, 
which  is  a  chief  and  prominent  instance  of  the  interference 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  well  as  of  baptism  by  water;  that  of 
Crispus,  of  Onesiphorus,  of  Aristobulus,  and  of  Narcissus, — 
he  contents  himself  with  mentioning  that  of  Lydia,  of  the 
Jailor,  and  of  Stephanas. 

Concerning  these,  he  argues  that  the  Jailor's  family  must 
have  been  adults,  because  they  "  rejoiced  in  God."  — Yes, 
exactly  such  adults  as  those  children  who  rejoiced  in  the 
temple,  crying  Ilusuimu  to  the  Sun  of  David  !  whom  our  Lord 
compares  to  babes  and  sucklings. 

On  the  subject  of  Lydia  and  family,  I  condemn  without 
reserve  that  disingenuousness  which  affirms,  that  her  family 
exclusively  were  the  "  Brethren'^  comforted  by  Paul  and  Silas 
— that  this  consolation  was  a  private,  and  not  a  public  act, — 
and  that  the  Brethren  were  not  the  Christians  of  Philippi,  but 
the  sons  of  Lydia. 

Acts  xvi.  16,  &c.  Paul  and  Silas  expelled  a  Pythonic 
spirit  from  a  certain  damsel ;  her  masters  caught  them  and 
drew  them  unto  the  forum,  and  brought  them  to  the  command- 
ing OFFICERS  of  the  troops  in  garrison,  the  Strategoi,  saying, 

these  Jews  do  exceedingly  trouble  our  city And  the 

commanding  oficers  rent  off  their  clothes,  and  commanded  to 
beat  them  ;  and  when  they  had  laid  many  stripes  upon  them, 
they  cast  them  into  prison,  charging  the  jailor,  the  comman- 
der of  the  place  for  military  punishments,  to  keep  them  safely. 

And  when  it  was  day,  the  commanding  oncers  sent  the 

Serjeants,  saying,  let  those  men  go  :  and  the  jailor,  military 
ruler  of  the  prison,  told  this  to  Paul,  saying.  The  commanding 
officers  have  sent  to  let  you  go  :  now  therefore   depart  in 


as  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

peace.  But  Paul  returned  his  answer  to  the  commanding 
officers,  by  their  own  messengers,  the  Serjeants  ;  They  have 
beaten  us  openly,  uncondenmed,  being  Romans,  and  have 
cast  us  into  prison  ;  and  now  do  they  thrust  us  out  privily  ? 

LKT  THEM   COME  THEMSELVES,   AND   FETCH   US  OUT.       And    the 

Serjeants  told  these  things  to  the  commanding  ojjicers ;  and 
they  feared  when  they  heard  that  they  were  Romans.  And 
they  came  in  person,  and  consoled  them,  and  brought  them 
out,  and  desired  them  to  depart  out  of  the  city.  And  they 
went  out  of  the  prison  publicly,  and  entered  into  Lydia's  house 
where  they  lodged  ;  and  when  they  had  seen  the  brethren 
who  naturally  resorted  to  the  Apostle's  lodgings,  they  con- 
soled tliem  as  publicly  as  they  had  been  consoled  by  the 
commanding  officers  ;  the  same  word  being  used  in  the  same 
sense,  and  they  departed.  Now  if  the  consolation  at  Lydia's 
was  private,  then  the  consolation  tendered  to  Paul  and  Silas 
by  these  officers  was  private  ;  but  if  the  consolation  tendered 
to  Paul  and  Silas  by  these  officers  was  public,  which  the 
whole  story  demonstrates,  then  the  consolation  tendered  to 
the  Christian  brethren  by  Paul  and  Silas  was  public  ;  and  if 
it  were  public,  it  was  not  confined  to  the  family  of  Lydia. 
Moreover,  the  whole  of  Paul's  conduct  proves  that  he  studied 
publicity  throughout  every  part  of  the  transaction  :  in  abso- 
lute humiliation  of  tho  tyrannic  military  officers  who  had 
wrongfully  imprisoned  him.  He  thus  gave  an  example  of 
firmness  and  courage,  of  resistance  to  oppression,  and  knowl- 
edge of  his  privileges  and  his  duty  that  could  not  be  too  gen- 
erally known  at  Fhilippi,  nor  too  strongly  evinced  in  the  pub- 
licity of  his  consolation  to  all  the  Philippian  converts. 

The  third  rule  of  interpretation,  the  acceptance  of  Scripture 
only,  as  conclusive  authority,  may  be  exemplified  by  an  exam- 
ination of  the  history  of  Lydia,  Acts  xvi.  15.  "  On  tVie  Sab- 
bath days  we  went  out  of  the  city  to  the  river,  where  under 
protection  of  the  law  was  a  Proseucha,  or  place  of  Jewish 
worship  ;  and  sitting  down,  we  spake  to  the  women  who  re- 
sorted there  ;  and  a  woman  named  Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple 
of  the  city  of  Thyatira,  who  worshipped  God,  heard  ;  whose 
heart  the  Lord  opened  to  attend  to  the  things  spoken  by  Paul ; 
and  she  besought  us,  saying.  If  ye  have  judged  me  to  be 
faithful  to  the  Lord,  come  into  my  house  and  abide  there  : 
and  she  constrained  us." 

So  far  as  this  passage  refers  to  Lydia,  it  is  throughout  in 
the  singular  number  :  her  heart  was  opened  to  attend  to  the 
things  spoken:  she  besought  us— saying,  if  ye  have  judged 


SUBJECTS   OF  BAPTISM.  59 

ME  faithful :  — come  into  my  house  :  and  she  constrained  us." 
No  mention  is  made  of  any  one  of  her  family  in  conjunction 
with  herself.  She  does  not  say,  come  into  our  house  :  we 
will  endeavour  to  make  it  as  agreeable  to  you,  as  we  can." 
Neither  is  any  person  of  her  family  marked  as  attending  to 
the  discourses  of  Paul  :  nor  as  resorting  with  her  to  this 
Proseucha,  where  Paul  discoursed. 

We  should  never  have  known  that  she  had  a  family,  were 
they  not  incidentally  mentioned  as  accompanying  her  in  bap- 
tism :  — "  And  when  she  was  baptized,  with  her  family."  Insert 
her  baptism,  we  find  her  family ;  omit  her  baptism,  she  has 
no  family  recorded.  The  act  of  her  baptism  cannot  be  sepa- 
rated from  that  of  her  family.  Now  if  her  family  were  of 
mature  age,  capable  of  attention  to  the  word  spoken,  how  is 
it  that  they  are  not  mentioned  with  her,  as  attending,  since 
they  are  mentioned  with  her  as  receiving  baptism  ?  How  is 
it,  that  they  having  received  baptism  with  her  do  not  concur 
in  her  invitation  of  their  spiritual  fathers  ?  Their  non-age 
only  can  explain  this.  And  that  those  who  are  not  marked 
as  having  attended  to  the  word,  should  nevertheless  be  marked 
as  receiving  baptism,  has  appeared  to  theBaptists  themselves 
so  unaccountable,  that  they  have  taken  different  ways  to  ac- 
count for  it ;  which  they  have  not  accomplished ;  for  there 
cannot  be  a  clearer  instance  to  warrant  the  baptism  of  those 
children  who  have  not  attended  to  the  word  preached.  They 
have  also  taken  different  ways  to  characterize  the  brethren 
mentioned  in  verse  40.  "  They  were  sons  of  Lydia,"  say 
some— but  Scripture  says  nothing  of  her  having  any  sons. 
Others  say,  those  brethren  were  "  her  servants,  employed 
in  preparing  the  purple  dye  which  she  sold  :  and  her  house 
contained  only  brethren,  probably  men-servants,  whom  Paul 
comforted." 

We  read  in  Acts  xvi.  3,  10  ;  Paul  would  have  Timothy  "to 
go  forth  with  him  ;"  — and  no  doubt  Timothy  did  go  forth  with 
him:— and  they,  Paul,  Silas  and  Timothy  went  through  the 
cities,  by  Mysia  to  Troas.  A  vision  appeared  to  Paul ;  and 
after  he  had  seen  the  vision  ;  "  WE,  /  Luke  the  writer  being 
one,  endeavoured  to  go  into  Macedonia  ;  we  came  to  Samo- 
thracia  and  to  Philippi,  "  and  we  were  in  that  city  certain 
days."  —  And  on  the  Sabbaths,  we  went  out  to  the  Proseucha 
—  we  sat  down,  and  spake  to  the  women  — Lydia  constrained 
us  to  come  to  her  house  and  abide  there."  Now  who  were 
this  WE,  and  this  us,  if  not  Paul,  Silas,  Timothy,  and  Luke  ? 
The  whole  company  lodged  at   Lydia's.     "  And  it  came  to 


09  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

pass,  as  WE  went  to  prayer,  a  damsel  having  a  spirit  of  divi- 
nation met  us,  and  followed  Paul  and  us  many  days."  Her 
masters  caught  Paul  and  Silas.  Timothy  and  Luke  remained 
at  Lydia's. 

When  Paul  and  Silas  were  delivered  from  prison,  they 
went  to  their  abode  at  Lydia's,  and  there  met  "  the  brethren" 
Timothy  and  Luke,  from  whom  they  had  been  separated  one 
night.  Timothy  and  Luke  remained  at  Philippi  after  Paul 
and  Silas  left  that  city.  Paul  and  Silas  went  to  Thessalonica, 
and  were  sent  away  by  night  to  Berea,  where  we  again  find 
Timothy ;  but  Luke  did  not  rejoin  the  company  until  they 
returned  to  Philippi,  Acts  xx.  6 ;  for  Luke  says,  "  we  sailed 
away  from  Philippi."  Luke  remained  at  Philippi  during  that 
interval,  naturally  continuing  at  Lydia's.  Luke  also  must 
have  had  intimate  knowledge  of  the  jailor  and  all  his  family  ; 
but  he  does  not  once  intimate  that  any  one  of  them  was  grown 
up  to  maturity.  Inasmuch  therefore  as  the  rule  directs  me 
to  accept  as  conclusive  evidence  whatever  is  expressed  in 
Scripture,  I  believe  that  the  family  of  Lydia  was  baptized, 
because  it  is  so  expressed ;  but  that  one  of  her  servants  was 
baptized,  I  do  not  believe,  because  it  is  not  so  expressed  ! — 
The  same  rule  is  applicable  to  the  family  of  Stephanas. 
Scripture  says  his  family  was  baptized  ;  I  therefore  believe 
that  fact  — Scripture  says  nothing  of  the  baptism  of  his  house- 
hold, I  therefore  do  not  believe  it.  But  I  will  believe  it,  when- 
ever a  passage  of  Scripture  shall  be  produced,  in  which  house- 
hold, OIK  I  A,  is  connected  with  Baptism! 

The  mischance  that  our  translators  should  have  used  the 
terms  "  house"  and  "  household''  interchangeably,  though 
Scripture  preserves  the  distinction,  is  glaring  respecting  the 
family  of  Onesiphorus,  2  Timothy  i.  IG.  and  iv.  19.  The 
Greek  word  in  one  text  is  rendered  "  house,"  and  in  the  other 
"household,"  notwithstanding  the  same  persons  are  intended. 
Our  translators  also  have  used  one  word,  "  household,''  to  ex- 
press both  the  family  and  household  of  Stephanas,  though 
Scripture  uses  two  words  in  order  to  mark  the  distinction, 
and  certainly  does  not  mean  the  same  persons.  This  has 
produced  confusion,  and  various  weak  and  inconsistent  argu- 
ments. 

The  Baptists  thus  allege— "As  to  the  term  ^household,' 
there  is  no  proof  that  infants  were  included  in  the  household 
of  Stephanas,  of  Lydia,  and  the  Philippian  jailor.  Stepha- 
nas is  not  mentioned  in  the  Acts,  but  by  Paul,  1  Corinthians 
i.  16,  audxvi.  15.    "  I  baptized  the  household  of  Stephanas  ;" 


StfBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  61 

and  he  besoiiglit  the  brethren  to  submit  themselves  to  them ; 
because  the  members  of  his  family  were  "  the  first  fruits  of 
Achaia,  who  helped  the  Apostles  and  laboured  with  them, 
and  were  addicted  to  the  ministry  of  the  saints."  Now  in- 
fants could  neither  preach  the  gospel,  nor  even  assist  and 
wait  upon  those  who  did  ;  and  some  time  must  elapse  before 
they  could  be  fit  to  take  the  lead  in  the  church." 

This  view  of  the  Apostle's  words,  1  Corinthians  xvi.  15, 
16  ;  that  the  household  of  Stephanas  was  "  fit  to  take  a  lead 
in  the  church  at  Corinth,"  and  that  the  church  as  a  body  were 
directed  to  "  submit  themselves  to  that  household,"  is  im- 
pugned by  the  grammar  of  the  passage  — by  the  reasons  as- 
signed by  the  apostle,  and  by  the  possibilities  of  the  fact,  as 
they  existed  at  that  period. 

The  grammatical  construction  of  the  passage  does  not  allow 
us  to  accept  the  words  inclosed  in  a  parenthesis  by  our  trans- 
lators, as  a  part  of  the  original  text  written  according  to  the 
train  of  thought  current  in  the  apostle's  mind.  The  neces- 
sity felt  for  including  them  in  a  parenthesis  is  demonstrative 
proof  that  they  have  not  been  so  considered  ;  but  a  parenthe- 
tical sentence  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  read  in  with  the 
text,  and  with  the  subject  treated  on  in  the  text,  which  these 
words  will  not. 

The  apostle's  "  I  beseech  you,  brethren,"  requires  to  be 
followed  by  some  term  congruous  to  his  leading  and  introduc- 
tory expression.  There  is  no  such  cause  why  he  besought 
them,  marked  ;  but  a  harshness  of  transition  irreconcilable 
with  usual  and  regular  construction  ;  "  I  beseech  you  breth- 
ren, ye  know" — .  This  want  of  connection  and  consequence 
cannot  be  reduced  to  grammar,  in  the  sense  of  the  objection. 

The  reason  assigned  for  submission  is  absolutely  inconsis- 
tent with  the  purpose.  Nobody  supposes  that  submission  in 
temporals  is  intended  by  Paul.  Can  he  say,  "the  household 
of  Stephanas  had  addicted  hseU—eis  diacoman  — to  do  certain 
services  in  temporals  to  the  saints  ;  do  you  therefore  submit 
to  that  household  m  spirituals  ?"  This  is  ridiculous.  Popery 
itself  never  hazarded  a  more  futile  consequence  ;  never  drew 
a  more  monstrous  inference. 

The  possibilities  of  the  facts  are  completely  repugnant  to 
that  statement.  Paul  was  at  Ephesus,  distant  far  from 
Corinth,  where  the  household  of  Stephanas  resided.  The 
Corinthians  therefore  knew  much  more  about  the  dispo- 
sitions of  the  household  of  Stephanas  than  Paul  did :  they 
knew  it  long  before  he  did.     It  must  have  been  announced  to 


69"  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

them  many  weeks — more  likely  many  months,  prior  lo  his  in- 
formal ioi)  about  it :  —why  then  should  he  so  earnestly  "  be- 
seech them"  on  a  matter  which  was  not  a  secret?  Its  usefulness 
and  application  depended  on  its  being  extensively  reported. 

The  assertion  that  the  household  of  Stephanas  was  "  fit  to 
take  a  lead  in  the  church,"  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 
little  importance  attached  to  the  family  of  that  Christian  Bro- 
ther ill  the  first  chapter  of  this  epistle.  Paul  mentions 
Crispus  and  Gaius,  all  the  members  of  this  body  which  he 
had  baptized  :  but  he  overlooks  or  forgets  this  family ;  and 
adds  it  subsequently  as  by  an  after-thought.  Crispus  and 
Gaius  were  more  prominent  in  the  Apostle's  contemplation 
than  the  family  of  Stephanas,  which  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  esteemed  by  the  apostle,  for  the  purposes  concerning 
which  he  was  writing,  on  the  same  level  with  Crispus  and 
Gaius.  Is  it  possible  that  an  act  of  recollection  would  be 
necessary  to  this  inspired  penman,  in  reference  to  a  family 
"  fit  to  take  a  lead  in  the  church  ?"  Is  it  possible,  that  family 
should  be  "  fit  to  take  a  lead  in  the  church"  which  was  not 
so  competent  to  support  the  party  of  Paul,  as  Gaius  and 
Crispus  were  ? 

But  if  it  be  said  the  family  of  Stephanas  might  consist  of 
two  or  three  only  ;  is  it  credible  that  the  whole  church  at 
Corhith  which  "  came  behind  in  no  gift,"  including  also  Cris- 
pus and  Gaius,  were  besought  to  yield  submission  to  these  two 
OX  three?  Crispus  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  a  man  evidently 
of  great  respectability  and  influence  ;  and  Gaius  "  mine  host," 
says  Paul,  "and  that  of  the  whole  church ;"  are  they  to 
submit  themselves  to  two  or  three  yountr  persons  ?  Is  it  that 
Gaius,  to  whom  the  apostle  John  addressed  an  epistle,  com- 
mending his  "  faithful  doings,"  and  announcing  his  high  re- 
spect in  terms  the  most  remarkable  of  any  complimentary 
passage  that  can  be  selected  from  the  New  Testament. 
"  Beloved,  /  wish  above  all  things,  that  thou  mayest  prosper 
and  be  in  health,  as  thy  soul  prospereth."  Is  this  the  man 
directed  by  Paul  to  submit  himself  with  the  whole  church  at 
Corinth,  to  the  "younglings"  of  the  household  of  Stephanas? 
Impossible. 

The  passage  that  alludes  to  the  family  of  Stephanas,  1 
Cor.  i.  16  ;  has  no  difficulty;  but  that  respecting  the  house- 
hold of  Stephanas,  1  Cor.  xvi.  15,  16  ;  is  neither  Greek, 
Grammar,  nor  common  sense.  Whitby  thus  paraphrases  — 
"  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  seeing  you  know  the  house  of 
Stephanas,  that  it  is  the  first  fruits  of  the  gospel  in  Achaia, 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  63 

and  that  they  have  ever  since  addicted  themselves  to  the 
ministry  of  the  saints  ;  that  you  submlBj^ourselves  to  such 
giving  reverence  and  honour  to  them,  Ema  to  every  one  that 
helpeth  with  us  and  laboureth."  Doddridge  renders  ;  "  1  be- 
seech ye  brethren  as  ye  know  the  Household  of  Stephanas, 
that  it  is  the  first  fruits  of  Achaia,  and  as  they  have  set  them- 
selves to  ministering  to  the  Saints,  that  you  subject  yourselves 
to  such,  and  to  every  associate  in  that  good  work  and  labour." 
Pearce  renders,  "  And  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  have  regard 
to  the  family  of  Stephanas,  because  they  are  the  first  fruits 
of  Achaia,  and  have  set  themselves  about  the  work  of  minis- 
tering to  the  saints,  that  ye  would  submit  yourselves  unto 
such,  and  to  every  one  who  worketh  with  them  and  labour- 
eth." The  Bishop  saw  clearly  that  "  it  is,"  in  the  singular, 
will  not  construe  with  "  they  are"  in  the  plural  — axid  that 
the  phrase  "I  beseech  you  brethren"  — must  have  an  imme- 
diate subject ;  and  therefore  he  renders  "  I  beseech  you  have 
regard."  In  his  notes  he  gives  as  his  reason  for  this  version, 
that  many  MSS.  read  "  they  are  the  first  fruits."  Pagninus 
and  all  the  Latins  read  "  Stephanas  and  Fortunatus  who  are" 

• Others  read  "  Stephanas  and  Fortunatus,  and  Achaicus, 

who  are." 

To  prepare  our  minds  for  a  correct  view  of  the  place,  we 
ask,  what  is  the  Apostle's  intention  inwrhing  it?  To  answer 
this  question  we  must  consider  the  whole  of  the  Apostle's 
theme. 

The  Apostle's  description  of  Timothy,  1  Corinthians  xvi. 
10,  is  remarkable,  "He  worketh  the  work,  v^RGAzetai  ergon, 
of  the  Lord,  as  I  also  do  !"  Paul  desires  their  submission  to 
co-workers,  synERGONTi.  There  seems  to  be  a  mutual  refer- 
ence between  these  words,  which  leads  us  to  infer,  that  he 
who  "  worketh  the  work  as  I  also  do,"  must  be  a  co-worker 
with  me.  This  is  implied  in  the  us  of  our  translators  ;  but  it 
dismisses  the  "  associate  in  that  good  work"  of  Doddridge  ; 
and  it  dismisses  the  "  worketh  with  them^''  of  Pearce. 

"  If  Timothy  come  to  Corinth,  take  care  that  he  be  without 
fear  or  vexation  from  your  party  disputes  among  you ;  for  he 
worketh  the  work  of  the  Lord,  as  I  also  do.  Let  no  one 
therefore  despise  him,  but  accompany  him  on  his  journey, 
that  he  may  come  to  me  in  safety  ;  for  I  and  the  brethren 
expect  him.  As  to  ApoUos  our  brother,  I  and  the  brethren 
exhorted  him  much  to  come  to  you  ;  but  he  was  by  no  means 
inclined  to  come  now,  during  your  party  dissenlions  ;  yet  he 
will  come  when  he  hath  a  convenient  season.     And  I  beseech 


64  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

you,  brethren  that  yc  submit  yourselves  unto  such  as  Timothy 
and  Apollos,  but  '(■■othy  especially  ;  and  to  every  one  co- 
working  with  me,  IM  labouring."  Here  every  thing  is  in  its 
proper  place,  and  reference :  and  to  induce  their  greater  care 
of  Timothy,  when  he  arrived,  the  Apostle  reminds  them  that 
the  household  of  Stephanas  had  set  themselves  to  do  acts  of 
hospitality  and  kindness  to  Christian  ministers  and  brethren, 
at  once  an  example  and  a  stimulus  !  Why  did  not  Paul  then 
recommend  Timothy  to  lodge  at  that  residence  ? — Probably 
because  Stephanas  resided  not  in  Corinth.  The  Corinthian 
Church  then  was  not  exhorted  to  submit  itself  to  the  household 
of  Stephanas.  The  notion  is  unreasonable  :  the  cause  assign- 
ed is  absurd.  Crispus  and  Gains,  with  the  whole  church, 
submit  themselves  to  the  servants  of  Stephanas,  because 
these  servants  very  readily  and  cheerfully  offered  their  kind 
assistance  to  travelling  brethren  !  Where  is  the  congTuity 
between  cause  and  effect  1  But  that  Crispus  and  Gains  with 
the  Corinthian  Church  might  show  all  deference  and  honour 
to  Timothy,  might  lodge,  and  entertain  him  respectfully,  and 
bring  him  forward  on  liis  journey,  with  every  mark  of  Cliris- 
tian  attention  ;  is  exactly  coincident  with  what  the  Apostle 
before  had  requested. 

The  concluding  chapter  of  other  epistles  is  composed  of  mem- 
oranda addressed  by  the  Apostle  to  his  Christian  friends  ;  and 
when  introduced  into  the  text,  they  are  not  placed  precisely  in 
due  order.  The  same  is  the  case  here  ;  and  this  reference  to 
the  household  of  Stephans  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  margi- 
nal note.  It  could  occasion  no  confusion  in  the  original  from 
the  manner  of  writing  it.  The  whole,  I  conceive,  stood  thus  : 
— "  Now,  if  Timotheus  come,  see  that  he  may  be  with  you 
without  fear  ;  for  he  workcth  the  work  of  the  Lord,  as  I  also 
work.  Let  no  man  therefore  despise  him  ;  but  conduct  him 
forth  in  peace  that  he  may  come  to  me,  for  I  look  for  him 
with  the  brethren.  As  touching  our  brother  Apollos,  I  greatly 
desired  him  to  come  to  you  ;  but  his  will  was  not  to  come  at 
this  time  ;  but  he  will  come  when  he  shall  have  convenient 
time.  Watch  ye,  stand  fast  in  the  faith  ;  quit  you  like  men  : 
be  strong !  Let  all  things  be  done  with  charity ;  and  I 
beseech  you,  brethren,  that  ye  submit  yourselves  to  such  and 
to  every  one  that  helpeth  with  me  and  labourelh." — You  know 
the  household  of  Stephanas,  inasmuch  as  he  is  the  first  fruits 
of  Achaia,  that  they  have  set  themselves  to  do  services  of  accom- 
modation, to  DiACOXizE,  to  the  saints. — I  am  glad  of  the  coming 
of  Stephanas  and   Fortunatus  and   Achaicus  :  for  that  which 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  65 

was  lacking  on  your  part  they  have  supplied.  For  they  have 
refreshed  my  spirit  and  yours.  Therefore  acknovi^ledge 
them  that  arc  such." 

Strange  were  it  true,  that  the  Apostle  should  command  the 
Corinthian  Church  to  submit  to  the  servants,  but  only  to 
acknowledge  the  master  ;  only  to  acknowledge  the  brother  who 
had  refreshed  his  spirit,  and  the  spirits  of  the  Corinthians  to 
whom  he  writes ;  but  to  submit  to  his  servants,  whose  kind- 
ness though  extremely  laudable  terminated  on  strangers,  from 
whom,  neither  the  Corinthians  nor  Paul  had  received  the 
same  "  refreshment"  as  they  had  from  Stephanas.  To  com- 
plete this  absurdity,  Stephanas  a  member  of  the  Corinthian 
Church  is  commanded  by  the  Apostle,  to  submit,  "^juin^ 
Reverence  and  Honour,"  as  Whitby  paraphrases,  to  his  ow7i 
servants  !  This  becomes  absolutely  monstrous,  if  these  were 
the  sons  of  Stephanas  ;  for  then,  that  eminent  Christian,  a 
brother,  a  deputy  from  the  Church,  ihe  first  fruits  of  Achaia 
is  commanded  to  submit  to  his  own  children  !  ! ! 

The  result  of  the  whole  is  this,  that  the  household  of  Ste- 
phanas, as  individuals,  differ  from  the  family  baptized  by 
Paul ;  and  therefore,  that  the  notion  of  baptized  households 
has  no  sanction  from  this  passage.  It  follows,  that  the  actions 
ascribed  to  this  household  decide  nothing  whether  ihe  famihj 
of  Stephanas  were  young  or  old  ;  children  or  adults  ; — these 
actions  are  performed  by  others,  not  by  them.  Thus  the 
three  instances  of  baptized  families,  for  which  God  has  been 
thanked,  that  he  had  preserved  sufficient  proofs  of  their  being 
adults,  crumbles  into  dust.  Neither  of  them  singly,  nor  the 
whole  of  them  together,  affords  the  smallest  subterfuge  to 
those  who  impugn  the  testimony  of  Origen,  that  the  Apostles 
enjoined  on  the  churches,  the  practice  of  giving  baptism 
TO  infants. — Wherefore  I  record  my  full  conviction,  that  the 
Apostles  practised  infant  baptism  ! 


INFANT  BAPTISM. 

The  differences  between  the  Hebrew  Christian  Churches 
and  the  Gentile  Christians  almost  from  the  first  divided  and 
distressed  the  community  of  believers.  That  the  sentiments 
of  Paul  prevailed  among  the  Gentiles  is  evident,  not  from  the 
New  Testament  history  only,  but  from  Ecclesiastical  History 
also,  and  from  existing  facts.  That  the  Hebrews  had  senti- 
ments which  they  strongly  retained,  appears  from  the  same 

6* 


66  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

evidence  ;  and  on  this  subject,  Baptism.  It  is  commonly  said, 
that  "  Baptism  was  given  in  the  room,  or  place  of  circmnci- 
sion  :"  and  the  imperfect  manner  in  which  this  proposition 
has  been  expressed  and  defended,  has  occasioned  much  false 
argument  and  many  mistaken  assertions.  It  has  been  inac- 
curately described  as  a  succession. 

Mr.  Booth  says,  "  That  baptism  did  not  come  in  the  place 
of  circumcision,  we  have  the  strongest  presumptive  evidence. 
If  Baptism  succeeded  in  the  place  of  circumcision,  how  came 
it  that  both  of  them  were  in  full  force  at  the  same  time  ;  from 
the  commencement  of  John's  ministry  to  the  death  of  Christ  ? 
If  one  institution  succeed  in  the  place  of  another  we  are  un- 
avoidably led  to  consider  that  other  as  having  vacated  its 
place.  For  one  thing  to  come  in  the  room  of  another,  and 
the  latter  still  hold  its  place,  is  an  odd  kind  of  succession. 
Admitting  the  succession  pretended,  how  came  it  that  Paul 
circumcised  Timothy  after  he  had  been  baptized  ?  For  this, 
on  the  principle  here  opposed,  there  does  not  appear  the  least 
reason.  But  why  do  I  mention  the  case  of  Timothy  ?  seeing 
it  is  plain  on  this  hypothesis,  that  it  was  the  indispensable 
duty  of  those  parents  who  were  baptized  by  John  and  by  the 
Apostles,  before  the  death  of  Christ,  to  have  all  their  male 
infants  both  baptized  and  circumcised.  For  that  the  law  of 
circumcision  was  then  in  its  full  vigour  none  can  doubt ;  and 
that  Infant  Baptism  was  then  in  its  prime  our  opposers  insist. 
Those  favoured  infants  therefore,  if  ever  they  partook  of  the 
holy  supper,  in  the  language  of  Poedobaptism,  must  have  ha'd 
the  covenant  ratified  to  them  by  three  seals. 

"  Had  the  supposed  succession  been  a  fact,  not  only  the 
Apostles,  but  all  the  apostolic  churches  must  have  known  it. 
What  was  the  reason  then  that  so  many  of  the  Jewish  con- 
verts Avere  highly  disgusted  at  the  thought  of  circumcision 
being  laid  aside  ?  Why  such  warm  endeavours  to  support 
the  credit  of  an  ancient  ceremony,  which  they  themselves 
must  have  known  to  be  obsolete,  and  for  this  very  reason ; 
Baptism  came  in  its  room .'" 

I3ut  the  rite  of  circumcision  was  not  obsolete,  this  succes- 
sion never  was  thought  of,  much  less  allowed  by  Hebrew 
Christians,  and  the  fact  intended  is  true,  though  the  terms 
adopted  in  stating  it  are  incorrect. 

Paul  severely  censured  the  Hebrew  Christians  for  their 
attachment  to  the  Mosaic  law  ;  and  though  circumcision  be 
not  derived  from  the  Mosaic  law,  yet  he  describes  his  oppo- 
nents, Titus  i.  10,  Phil.  iii.  2,  plainly  enough,  as  "  vain  talk- 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  67 

ers,  and  deceivers  of  the  circumcision."  "  Beware  of  dogs : 
beware  of  tlie  concision."  Though  this  Apostle  manfully  sup- 
ported Christian  liberty  in  behalf  of  the  Gentiles,  it  appears 
demonstrably  from  his  circumcising  Timothy,  that  he  saw  no 
opposition  between  the  two  rites.  He  practised  them  both 
on  the  same  person.  This  was  the  sentiment  of  his  nation 
generally,  so  far  as  it  was  converted ;  and  there  is  little 
hazard  in  saying,  that  all  Hebrew  Christians  were  both 
circumcised  and  baptized.  In  proof  of  this,  the  following 
testimonies  which  refer  to  the  Hebrew  Church  in  Judea  are 
perfectly  satisfactory. 

Hegesippus,  apiid  Euseb.  Ecc.  Hist.  lib.  Hi.  cap.  32,  says, 
"  The  Church  of  Jerusalem  continued  a  virgin,  or  free  from 
heresy,  till  the  death  of  Simeon,  who  succeeded  James  the 
Just :"  till  the  time  of  Trajan,  about  A.  D.  100,  or  110.  The 
least  this  can  mean  is  this,  that  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  re- 
tained during  the  first  century,  the  customs  derived  from  its 
predecessors  and  original  founders. 

Irenasus  says,  lib.  i.  cap.  26,  "  The  Ebionites  used  only  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  :  were  over  curious  in  the  exposition  of 
the  Prophets ;  disowned  the  Apostle  Paul,  calling  him  an 
APOSTATE  from  the  law.  They  circumcised,  and  retained  the 
Jewish  law  and  Jewish  customs."  These  Ebionites  were  He- 
brews. They  used  the  Syriac  Gospel  of  Matthew  only ; 
because  the  other  Gospels  being  written  in  Greek  were  not 
in  the  Holy  Language.  They  disowned  the  Apostle  Paul, 
because  he  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles ;  and  though 
Christians,  they  circumcised  their  infants. 

Origen  says,  "  Those  of  the  Jews  who  believe  in  Christ 
have  NOT  abandoned  the  law  of  their  ancestors  ;  for  they  live 
according  to  it ;  bearing  a  name,  Ebionites.  Origen  also 
mentions  as  a  proof  of  ignorance  in  Celsus ; — that  he  had 
not  noticed  Israelites  believing  in  Jesus,h\xi  not  relinquishing 
the  law  of  their  Fathers." 

How  confusedly  does  Celsus's  Jew  speak  on  this  subject  ? 
when  he  might  have  said  more  plausibly — Some  of  you  have 
relinquished  the  old  customs — Some  nevertheless  observe  the 
customs  of  their  ancestors — Some  are  willing  to  receive  Je- 
sus as  the  person  foretold  by  the  Prophets,  and  to  observe  the 
law  of  Moses  according  to  the  ancient  customs. 

This  disposition  of  the  Hebrew  Christians  to  adhere  to  the 
Law  of  Moses,  continued  unabated  during  the  second  cen- 
tury. It  continued  also  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  ;  for 
Eusebius  says  :  "  The  Ebionites  used  the  Gospel  according 


68  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

to  tlio  Hebrews.  Tkey  kept  both  the  Jewish  and  the  Chris- 
tian ISahbath.^'     Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  iii.  cap.  27. 

The  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews  is  usually  supposed 
to  have  been  the  Syriac  Gospel  of  Matthew.  Those  who 
kept  both  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and  the  Christian  Sabbath 
might  well  enough  practic(!  both  the  Jewish  ordinance  of 
circumcision,  and  the  Christian  ordinance  of  baptism. 

Jerom,  Comment  on  Isaiah,  mentions  Hebrews  believing  in 
Christ.  He  says  they  Avere  anathematizkd  for  their  rigid 
adherence  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Jewish  law  which  they 
mingled  witli  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  Propter  hoc  solum  a  pa- 
tribus  aimtliematizati  sunt,  quod  legis  cmrcmonias  Christi  evan- 
gelio  miscuerunt.  He  also  has  this  expression — "  The  Naza- 
rencs  who  so  receive  Christ,  that  they  discard  not  the  rites  of 
the  ancient  law." 

Jerom  describes  the  Nazarenes  as  persons  "  who  believed 
in  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  whom 
the  orthodox  believe  : — but  were  nevertheless  so  bigoted  to 
the  Mosaic  law,  that  they  were  rather  to  be  considered  as  a 
Jewish  sect,  than  a  Christian.  To  this  day  a  heresy  prevails 
among  the  Jews  in  all  the  synagogues  of  the  East,  which  is 
called  that  of  the  Nazg^renes,  who,  from  a  desire  of  being 
Jews  and  Christians,  both  at  once,  are  neither  Jews  nor 
Christians."  Epist.  ad  Augnstinum,  de  dissidio  Petri  et  Pauli. 
Who  anathmatized  these  Hebrews,  and  by  what  authority,  Ave 
need  not  be  solicitous  to  learn.  This  disposition  to  be  Jews 
and  Christians  both  at  once,  this  bigotry  to  the  Mosaic  law, 
in  Jerom's  days,  prevailed  chiefly  in  the  East. 

With  this  agrees  Epiphanius  who  says  :  "  Ebion  adhered 
to  the  Judaic  law,  with  respect  to  the  observation  of  the  Sab- 
bath and  to  circumcision ;  and  to  all  other  things  which  are 
common  to  the  rites  of  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans." 

It  may  be  said,  that  "  these,  though  Hebrew  Christians, 
were  Heretics ;"  the  Gentiles  called  them  so  ;  but  that  they 
erred  in  this  particular  does  not  appear.  I  add  another  tes- 
timony which  regards  those  who  were  orthodox,  in  a  much 
later  age. 

Other  writers,  Eusebius,  Sulpitius  Severus,  &c.,  inform  us 
that  the  bishops  of  the  Christian  Church  at  Jerusalem,  who 
had  been  correctly  and  fully  baptized,  Avere  circumcised  du- 
ring many  successions.  It  seems,  hoAvever,  that  not  all  their 
people  retained  the  Mosaic  law  entire  ;  but  that  some  of  them 
exercised  a  liberty  respecting  those  observances,  which  lib- 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  69 

erty  others  scrupled.*  The  Church  of  Jerusalem  compre- 
hended the  great  body  of  Hebrew  Christians.  It  was  justly 
esteemed  orthodox.  It  produced  men  of  great  learning,  says 
Eusebius  :  who  gives  us  Eccl.  Hist.  A.  D.  302,  lib.  vii.  c.  32, 
a  list  of  fifteen  bishops  in  succession  who  were  circumcised. 
The  first  who  was  uncircumcised,  was  Marcus,  A.  D.  136. 
Those  Hebrew  Christians,  as  well  as  the  Apostle  Paul,  saw 
nothing  in  circumcision  inconsistent  with  Baptism  ;  and  most 
certainly,  they  did  not  consider  Baptism  as  being  the  succes- 
sor of  their  family  rite  which  dated  from  before  the  law  of 
Moses. 

As  to  the  Gentiles  who  never  practised  circumcision,  it  is 
impossible  that  Baptism  should  be  the  successor  of  that  rite 
to  them.  Such  an  assertion  would  be  a  gross  absurdity  in 
language  and  fact.  Nevertheless,  this  gross  absurdity  may 
be  stated  in  terms  by  which  it  becomes  a  correct  assertion. 

Baptism  was  given  to  the  Gentiles  instead  of  giving 
THEM  Circumcision  as  the  initiatory  ordinance  of  their 
religious  profession. 

We  learn  from  Acts  xv.  that  "  certain  men  from  Judea 
taught  the  Gentile  brethren,  except  ye  be  circumcised,  ye  can- 
not be  saved,"  Acts  xv.  1,5.  At  Jerusalem,  the  sect  of  the 
Pharisees  insisted  on  this  ;  and  there  was  much  disputing 
about  it.  The  Council  however  at  length  determined  to  the 
contrary.  But  the  Council's  letter  does  not  mention  baptism 
or  any  other  Christian  rite :  it  enjoins  nothing  positive  ;  but 
merely  negative  ;  abstinence  from  certain  things  offensive  to 
the  Jews.  For  the  council  knew  that  Baptism  already  was 
sufficiently  administered.  T/jey  therefore  did  noi  add  circum- 
cision to  baptism,  in  reference  to  the  Gentiles,  although  it 
appears  demonstrated  that  the  Jewish  Church  members  re- 
tained the  same  principles  and  practices  as  to  themselves,  for 
which  the  Pharisees  among  them  contended  ;  and  which 
certain  teachers  from  Judea  had  propagated  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. 

It  is  singular  enough  that  among  Xke  false  accusations  urged 

*  Sulpitius  Severus  says,  Hist.  Sac.  lib.  ii.  cap.  31.  Et  quia  Christiani 
in  Palrestina  viventes  ex  Judaeis  potissimum  putabantur,  namque  tnm 
Hierosolyma  non  nisi  circumcisione  habebat  ecclesia  sacerdotem,  mili- 
tum  cohortem  custodias  in  perpetuum  agitare  jussit,  quae  Judaeos  omnes 
Hierosolymae  aditu  arceret.  Q.uod  quidein  Christianae  fidei  proficiebat; 
quiatumpcEne  omnes,  Christum  Deum,sublegisobservatione  credebant. 
Nimirum  id  Domino  ordinante  dispositum,  ut  legis  servitus  a  libertate 
fidei  atque  ecclesiae  to]leretur.  Ita  turn  primum  Marcus  ex  Gentibus 
apud  Hierosolymam  espiscopus  fecit. 


70  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

against  Paul,  5y  the  believing  Jewish  zealots,  at  Jerusalem, 
Acts  xxi.  20,21;  one  was,  "  that  tliou  teachest  all  the 
Jews  which  are  among  the  Gentiles  that  they  ought  not  to 
circumcise  their  children.''^  What  then  did  they  sujipose  Paul 
practised,  in  regard  to  cliildren  generally  ?  They  had  heard 
that  he  did  something  or  advised  somothi7ig  to  be  done  concern- 
ing them,  what  could  it  be  1  what  did  he  substitute  in  the 
place  of  circumcision  ?  We  know  of  nothing  but  baptism 
that  could  give  occasion  to  this  information  respecting  Paul's 
proceedings.  We  know  the  credulity  of  the  multitude,  and 
the  frequency  of  error  in  vague  reports ;  and  these  reports 
were  brought  by  unbelieving  Jews  from  distant  countries  ; 
but  it  by  no  means  followed  that  because  Paul  conferred  bap- 
tism on  Jewish  children,  therefore  he  prohibited  circumcision  : 
— since  both  M^ere  practised  among  those  Hebrew  Christians 
themselves.  This  however  confirms  the  assertion  of  Irenaeus, 
that  the  Hebrews,  the  mass  of  the  people  disoioned  the  Apostle 
Paul ;  and  considered  him  as  an  apostate  from  the  Law. 
Those  Jews  were  zealous  for  the  circumcision  made  by  hands. 
Those  who  reported  this  falsity  concerning  the  apostle,  Jews 
who  themselves  dwelt  among  the  Gentiles  were  equally  zealots 
in  the  same  cause. 

It  is  not  then  to  Jewish  converts,  that  the  Apostle  Paul 
addressed  his  expression.  Col.  ii.  II,  *'  In  whom  Christ  ye  are 
circumcised  by  the  circumcision  made  without  hands" — for  they 
had  been  circumcised  by  hands,  by  the  Mosaic  process  : 
neither  had  they  been  circumcised  by  Christian  profession, 
by  baptism ;  for  that  would  have  been  a  second  circumci- 
sion :  whereas  the  Gentiles,  had  not  been  circumcised  by 
hands,  but  had  put  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  by 
Christian  circumcision,''^  Baptism. 

To  expect  to  obtain  a  clear  view  of  this  subject  from  Hebrew 
writers,  were  to  expect  them  to  be  free  from  their  prejudices. 
We  must  consult  the  writings  of  the  Gentile  Christians  to 
discover  their  view  of  this  matter,  and  how  they  expressed 
their  judgment.  Do  Ave  find  <Ae/n  saying  that  they  received 
Baptism  instead  of  receiving  Circumcision  ? 

That  the  Gentile  Christians  thus  understood  it,  appears 
from  their  own  testimony  :  so  Justin,  a  few  years  after  the 
Apostles,  A.  D.  140,  writes;  "We  Gentile  Christians  also, 
who  by  him  have  access  to  God,  have  not  received  that 
circumcision  according  to  the  flesh  ;  but  that  circumcision 
which  is  spiritual;  and  moreover,  for  indeed  we  were  sinners, 
we  have  received  this  circumcision  in  Baptism  ;  for  the  pur- 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  71 

pose  of  God's  mercy  :  and  it  is  enjoined  on  all  to  receive  it 
in  like  manner."  Justin  therefore  thought  that  "  spiritual 
circumcision,"  Baptism,  was  given  to  us,  the  Gentiles,  instead 
of  giving  us,  the  Gentiles,  carnal  circumcision.  In  other 
words,  the  Gentiles  accepted  and  practised  Baptism,  instead 
of  accepting,  and  practising  circumcision.  Baptism  was  to 
them  instead  of  Circumcision. 

Here  comes  in  the  evidence  of  the  Quest,  ad  Orthodox, 
ascribed  to  Justin  Martyr,  "  Why,  if  circumcision  be  a  good 
thing,  do  lue  not  use  it  as  well  as  the  Jews  did  1  The  answer 
is,  Because  WE  Gentile  Christians  are  circumcised  by  Bap- 
tism tvith  Christ's  Circumcision."  To  support  this  sentiment, 
the  waiter  refers  to  Col.  ii.  11,  12.  In  other  words,  "  To  us 
Gentiles,  baptism  is  given  instead  of  giving  us  circumcision." 

John  Chrysostom,  Hon.  40,  in  Gen.  says  "  There  was  pain 
and  trouble  in  the  practice  of  that  Jewish  circumcision  ;  but 
OUR  circumcision,  I  mean  the  grace  of  Baptism,  gives  cure 
without  pain  ;  and  this /or  infants  as  well  as  men." 

Fidus,  A.  D.  250  ;  hesitated  to  confer  baptism  on  an  infant 
before  the  eighth  day  after  its  birth.  The  reference  of  this  to 
circumcision  is  too  palpable  to  be  questioned.  Fidus  asked 
whether  baptism  might  be  performed  before  a  child  was  eight 
days  old.  Cyprian  the  Bishop  to  whom  he  wrote  for  advice, 
and  the  sixty-six  Bishops  of  the  neighbourhood  convened  in 
council,  without  a  dissenting  voice,  decided  explicitly,  that 
Baptism  might  be  performed  before  the  eighth  day.  But  how 
did  Fidus  think  of  such  a  thing  unless  it  bore  some  resemb- 
lance to  Jewish  circumcision  ?  Why  did  not  Fidus  mention  on 
the  eighteenth  or  the  twenty-eighth  day  ?  Why  had  not  one 
among  that  assembly  of  Bishops,  the  honesty  to  tell  him — 
"  We  never  heard  of  Baptism  conferred  at  all  in  early  life  ; 
never  but  on  men  and  women  and  youth  grown  to  years  of 
discretion !"  Why  did  not  they  censure  him  for  uttering  a 
heresy  so  erroneous  and  judaizing,  in  reference  to  such  in- 
fants ?  He  seems  to  have  adopted  the  Jewish  notion  that 
a  child  is  not  perfect  till  a  Sabbath  has  passed  over  it  ;  but 
Cyprian  informed  him,  that  a  child  being  a  work  of  God,  the 
spiritual  circumcision  ought  not  to  be  restrained  by  circumcision 
according  to  the  flesh ;  but  that  the  most  extensive  notion 
should  be  connected  with  that  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  especially 
to  infants.  To  this  all  the  bishops  in  council  agreed.  Thus 
the  testimony  of  Origen  is  fully  confirmed  ;  that "  the  Apostles 
commanded  to  confer  baptism  on  Greek  infants  ;"  and  that 
being  a  Greek  infant,  thou  wast  baptized."     Wherefore,  the 


72  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

Church  saw  nothing  improper  in  retaining  the  Abrahamic 
circumcision,  and  receiving  the  practice  of  baptism,  performing 
both — while  the  GentiUis  acknowledge,  that  they  received  in 
baptism  that  spiritual  circumcision  which  originated  in  God's 
mercy  and  that  led  to  further  communications  of  it ;  Acts 
xxiii.  1 0.  Baptism  was  their  circumcision  ;  which  was  not 
restrained  to  a  particular  set  time,  but  which  might  be  ad- 
ministered as  propriety  might  determine.  It  also  deserves 
notice,  that  the  writer  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrew  Christians 
attempted  not  to  draw  them  ofT  from  circumcision,  although 
he  earnestly  labours  to  moderate  their  attachment  to  Moses.* 

Dr.  Gill  expressly  denies  that  any  covenant  could  exist 
between  man  and  God  previous  to  that  of  circumcision  made 
with  Abraham  ;  but  he  overlooked  or  forgot  the  expression  of 
the  Deity,  Psalm  1.  5  ;  "  Gather  my  saints  together  unto  me  ; 
those  who  have  made  a  Covenant  with  me  by  sacrifice." 
Sacrifice  was  long  prior  to  circumcision  ;  and  covenants  were 
ratified  by  sacrifice.  This  expression  is  not  referable  only  to 
saints  subsequent  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant;  but  is  addressed 
to  the  earth  at  large,  and  also  to  the  heavens.  It  is  general 
and  not  restricted.  Nevertheless,  we  know  so  little  of  the 
modes  of  performing  sacrifice  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the 
world,  that  unless  we  accept  the  Mosaic  writings  and  ordi- 
nances as  representing  the  more  ancient  services,  we  must 
remain  unenlightened  on  the  subject.  It  cannot  be  supposed, 
that  the  special  forms  observed  in  that  extraordinary  and  per- 
haps singular  covenant  made  between  Abraham  and  God, 
Gen.  XV.  17;  were  customary  on  all  occasions  of  sacrifice  ; 
but  rather,  that  Moses  in  reducing  his  Levitical  precepts  to 
writing,  for  the  guidance  of  his  people,  now  becoming  a  na- 
tion, did  but  embody  and  perpetuate  the  practices  of  his  fore- 
fathers, the  Patriarchs. 

When  the  Covenant  of  Circumcision  was  made  with  Abra- 
ham, Gen.  xvii.  10,  25  ;  he  was  already  the  father  of  Ish- 
mael  ;  who,  at  the  time  when  he  received  this  rile  in  his  own 
person,  in  consequence  of  the  faith  of  his  father  Abraham, 
was  "  thirteen  years  of  age." 

*  The  circle  or  glory,  which  painters  from  the  earliest  ages  have 
placed  around  the  heads  of  saints,  is  called  Nimbus,  and  marks  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost, or  his  inspiration  of  the  person  so  ornamented; 
and  their  custom  of  anointing  after  bathing  might  possibly  give  occa- 
sion to  the  ecclesiastical  custom  of  Unction  after  Baptism  ;  yet  I  suspect 
that  it  was  a  sign  of  the  Holy  Spirit  retained  long  after  the  thing  signified 
had  ceased. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  73 

At  the  same  time  with  Ishmael,  were  circumcised  probably 
about  iifteen  hundred  men  of  different  ages,  who  had  no  rela- 
tion whatever  by  consanguinity  to  Abraham  ;  but  merely  re- 
ceived this  sign,  "  the  seal  of  Abraham's  faith,"  in  conformity 
with  the  faith  and  obedience  of  their  Master.  The  posterity 
of  Ishmael  in  imitation  of  his  compliance,  now  practice  cir- 
cumcision at  the  same  time  of  life  as  their  first  father  under- 
went that  rite. 

The  Baptists  assert,  that  circumcision  was  only  a  token  of 
right  to  temporal  blessings  in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  there- 
fore was  conferred  on  infants  in  proof  of  their  descent  from 
him  to  whom  the  land  originally  was  promised ;  but  what 
right  to  such  succession  did  it  confer  on  Ishmael,  and  on 
those  persons  who  were  circumcised  at  the  same  time  with 
him  ;  among  whom  were  many  children.  They  were  neither 
Abraham's  posterity,  nor  partakers  of  Abraham's  faith  ;  there- 
fore circumcision  could  not  be  to  them  the  seal  of  righteous- 
ness by  faith.  What  faith  had  the  Edomites  and  the  Midian- 
ites  ? — Circumcision  was  not  a  mark  of  personal  faith  among 
the  Hebrews,  but  of  obedience.  What  right  to  inheritance  in 
the  land  of  Judea  did  circumcision  confer  on  the  Gileadites, 
Joshua  ix.  23  ;  on  Achior,  Judith  xiv.  10;  and  on  the  Per- 
sians who  became  Jews,  Esther  viii.  17  ;  under  the  patronage 
of  Mordecai  ? 

The  precept  given  to  Abraham  commanded  Adult  Circum- 
cision ;  but  Infant  Circumcision  was  included.  The  command 
given  to  the  Apostles  was  "  baptize  all  nations  ;"  infants  were 
equally  included.  If  in  the  term  "  all  males,"  every  boy-child 
was  a  party  ;  so  in  the  term  "  all  nations"  every  state  of  life 
in  the  community  was  a  party.  When  we  acknowledge  the 
circumcision  of  Abraham  and  Ishmael,  we  do  not  deny  the 
circumcision  of  a  hundred  children  at  the  same  time  ;  so  when 
we  acknowledge  the  baptism  of  "  men  and  women,"  we  do 
not  deny  the  baptism  of  their fa7nilies.  "  Now  we,  as  Isaac 
was,  are  children  of  the  promise,"  says  the  Apostle  ;  Gal.  iv. 
28,  30  ;  and  he  adds,  "  cast  out  the  bondwoman  and  her 
son  ? — "  so,  then,  Christian  Brethren,  we  are  not  children  of 
the  bondwoman  but  of  the  free  ;  stand  fast  therefore  in  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free."  This  was  not 
addressed  to  Jews  by  descent  :  but  to  converts  resident  in 
Galatia  ;  formerly  heathen,  but  then  Christians. 

The  primitive  Church  understood  this  Gospel  liberty  ;  but 
those  who  in  later  times  take  upon  them  to  be  wiser  than  the 
primitive  Church,  charge  the  early  professors  with  perverting 

7 


74  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

liberty  into  licentiousness,  and  with  introducing  and  cherish- 
ing corruptions  in  faith  and  practice. 

"  The  opinions  held  by  the  majority  of  real  and  pious 
Christians,  in  the  early  ages,  as  Jerom  observes,  when  the 
blood  of  Christ  was  yet  warm  in  the  breasts  of  Christians, 
and  the  faith  and  spirit  of  religion  were  brisk  and  vigorous," 
were  those  that  were  taught  by  the  apostles,  and  constituted 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
observable  harmony  and  unanimity  of  the  several  churches  in 
their  most  public  acts  is  a  circumstance  which  irresistibly 
confirms  this  position.  It  is  scarcely  probable  that  any  large 
church  of  those  early  ages  should  vary,  in  things  of  moment, 
from  the  Apostolical  doctrines  :  and  it  is  quite  absurd  to  ima- 
gine that  ALL  the  churches  should  combine  in  the  same 
error,  and  conspire  together  to  corrupt  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 
This  argument  is  justly  insisted  upon  both  by  Irenaeus  and 
TertuUian  against  the  heretics  of  their  respective  times. 
They  both  aflirm  that  the  true  disciple,  one  who  believes  that 
He  who  wrought  their  salvation  upon  earth  was  God,  "  is  a 
follower  of  the  public  doctrine  of  the  church." 

Is  this* argument  totally  inapplicable  to  this  subject?  May 
we  not  depend  on  what  we  And  generally  practised,  while 
"  the  blood  of  Christ  was  yet  warm  in  the  hearts  of  Chris- 
tians, and  the  faith  and  spirit  of  religi(m  were  brisk  and  vigo- 
rous"— in  reference  to  Baptism  ?  May  we  not  accept  the 
current  opinion  of  those  times,  as  really  the  doctrine  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  genuine  intention  and  command  of  Christ  ? 

It  was  the  established  practice  of  the  Jews  to  confer  the 
initiatory  rite  of  their  religion  on  children  in  early  infancy. 
Jesus  Christ  commanded  no  alteration  !  The  natural  conse- 
quence is  this,  the  continuation  of  the  principle  of  it.  But  it 
is  objected,  "  the  rite  is  not  the  same  ;"  yet  if  the  principle 
be  the  same,  not  abrogated,  the  inquiry  follows — Is  the  prin- 
ciple transferred  to  a  succeeding  rite  ?  Let  us  examine  some 
particulars  connected  with  circumcision  as  understood  by  the 
descendants  of  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses,  and  David. 

"  Circumcised  the  eighth  day"  is  placed  by  the  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  Philippians  iii.  6  ;  as  the  first  of  his  privileges 
enjoyed  as  a  Hebrew  ;  but  supposing  that  he,  as  thousands 
of  other  new  born  infants,  had  been  sickly  or  weakly,  did  the 
law  allow  no  dispensation  from  circumcision  on  the  eighth 
day?  In  every  Jewish  book  describing  this  service,  there  is 
an  observation  to  this  efl^ect — "  If  the  child  be  sickly,  he  is 
not  circumcised  till  he   is  well."     David  Levi  Cerem.  Jews. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  75 

But  this  liberty  had  its  bounds  ;  which  terminated  at  the  proper 
time  for  registering  the  infant  among  the  descents  of  his  house 
or  family.  What  that  time  was,  will  admit  of  no  hesitation, 
after  having  considered  a  few  passages  of  the  Old  Testament. 
"  Hezekiah  appointed  Kore  son  of  Imnah  the  Levite,  over 
the  free-will  offerings  of  God,  to  distribute  the  oblations  of 
the  Lord  and  the  most  holy  things.  2  Chron.  xxxi.  14. 
Next  to  him  were  Eden,  and  Miaimin,  and  Jeshua,  and  She- 
raaiah,  Amariah,  and  Shechaniah  in  the  cities  of  the  priests, 
in  their  set-Office,  to  give  to  their  brethren  by  courses,  as 
well  to  the  great  as  to  the  small.  Beside  their  genealogy 
of  wa/c5  from  THREE  years  old  and  upwards,  even  unto  every 

ONE  THAT  ENTERETH  INTO  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  LoRD,  his 

daily  portion  for  their  service  in  their  charges  according  to 
their  courses.  Both  to  the  genealogy  of  the  priests  by  the 
house  of  their  fathers,  and  to  the  Levites  from  twenty  years 
old  and  upwards,  in  their  charges,  by  their  courses  ;  and  to 
the  genealogy  of  all  their  little  ones,  their  wives,  and  their 
SONS,  and  their  daughters,  tlirough  all  the  congregation  :  for 
in  their  set-Office  they  sanctified  themselves  to  holiness. 
Also,  the  sons  of  Aaron  the  priest,  who  were  in  the  fields  of 
the  suburbs  of  their  cities,  in  eveiy  several  city,  the  men  that 
were  expressed  by  name,  to  give  portions  to  all  the  males 
among  the  priests,  and  to  all  that  were  reckoned  by  genealogies 
among  the  Levites." 

According  to  this  passage,  the  genealogy  of  the  males 
was  authenticated  at  three  years  of  age  ;  and  they  then  entered 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  not  in  an  uncircumcised  state  ; 
but  prepared  by  the  initiatory  rite  of  their  law.  It  follows, 
that  the  threat  of  a  child's  being  cut  off  for  want  of  circum- 
cision was  executed,  by  omitting  to  inscribe  him  in  the  gene- 
alogy of  his  family.  He  was  not  slain,  that  had  been  murder  : 
— but  not  being  recorded  among  his  tribe,  he  could  claim  no 
civil  existence  in  their  line — but  if  he  were  found  circumcised 
when  he  was  to  be  enrolled,  the  want  of  circumcision  on  the 
eighth  day  did  not  affect  his  registry. 

Children  at  three  years  old  entered  into  the  house  of  the 
Lord  : — but  children  of  the  priests,  whose  were  the  most  holy 
things  and  the  oblations  to  the  Lord,  had  a  right  to  eat  of  those 
most  holy  things,  at  iliat  early  time  of  life !  How  could  they 
eat  them  with  proper  reverence  ?  How  could  they  acknowl- 
edge God  in  partaking  of  them  1  How  could  they  perform 
any  one  act,  or  cherish  any  one  sentiment  connected  with 
them  ? 


76  SUBJECTS  OF   BAPTISM. 

Moreover,  the  text  is  studiously  precise.  These  Officers 
wore  to  distribute  to  the  small  as  well  as  to  the  great :  ac- 
cording to  the  genealogy  of  all  their  little  on'ks  who  are 
distinguished  from  sons  and  from  daughters.  This  principle 
extended  through  all  the  congregation.  Neither  is  this  a  forced 
sense  on  the  passage  ''■given  to  such  of  their  male  children  from 
THREE  years  upward  as  came  into  the  house  of  the  Lord." 
Therefore  at  that  early  time  of  life,  children  entered  the  Holy 
Temple,  were  participators  in  the  rites  there  performed,  and 
were  inscribed  on  the  sacred  registers. 

Moses  says ;  Deut.  xxix.  11;"  Ye  stand  all  of  you  this 
day  before  the  Lord  your  God. ...your  little  ones" — children 
of  three  years  old,  according  to  the  passage  in  the  Chronicles 
— "  to  ENTER  INTO  COVENANT  witli  the  Lord  thy  God." 
Children  of  three  years  old,  enter  into  God's  covenant  !  They 
could  not  tell  what  a  covenant  was ;  much  less  could  they 
assent  to  its  conditions  ;  and  much  less  still,  if  they  promised 
lo  observe  those  conditions,  could  any  dependence  be  placed 
on  their  conduct  in  future  life. 

Joshua  confirming,  or  rather  renewing  this  covenant  of  the 
Lord  on  Mount  Gerizim,  "  read  all  the  words  of  the  law,  the 
blessings  and  the  cursings,  according  to  all  that  is  written  in 
the  book  of  the  law  to  the  little  ones  ;"  Joshua  viii.  3,  4  ; 
to  children  of  three  years  old  !  Why  read  to  them  who  could 
not  understand  a  word  ? — or  if  read  to  them,  why  record  the 
reading  and  so  particularly  identify  them  ?  Hence,  children 
of  three  years  old  were  members  of  the  Hebrew  community, 
civil  and  religious,  in  the  most  sacred  rites,  and  in  the  most 
solemn  transactions,  equally  as  their  fathers  were.  They 
were  subject  to  the  same  preparatory  purifications,  and  were 
treated  on  the  same  ritual  principles  as  their  fathers.  What 
reason  may  be  alleged  for  this  ? 

I  answer,  three  years  old  was  the  weaning  time.  The 
Israelitish  women  suckled  their  children  tliree  years  ;  as 
the  mother  in  the  Maccabees  adjured  her  son,  2  Mace.  vii. 
27  ;  "  have  pity  on  me,  who  gave  thee  suck  three  years,  and 
nourished  thee."  While  children  were  at  the  breast,  they 
were  not  considered  as  subjects  of  regular  religious  admission 
to  the  temple  service.  Hannah  attended  to  this  in  the  case 
of  Samuel,  till  she  weaned  him;  and  while  he  was  yet  young 
a  mere  childling,  she  brought  him,  and  thenceforth  he  attended 
at  the  Divine  Altar. 

While  children  sucked,  they  were  infants  or  bahes ;  but 
after  they  were  weaned,  they  were  described  by  another 


SUBJECTS   OF  BAPTISM.  77 

name,  little  ones  or  little  children.  The  first  stage  of  life  was 
passed.     Have  we  any  thing  resembling  this  in  the  Gospel  ? 

Eustathius  and  Phavorinus  state  that  an  infant,  or  babe  is 
BQscpog,  "  a  new-born  child,  nourished  by  the  teat  from  his  birth, 
until  he  be  four  years  old."  The  Greeks  then  extended 
infancy  to  four  years  of  age  :  the  Jews  only  to  three  years  of 
age.  On  what  pretence  have  some  affirmed  that  infancy  in 
the  Gospel  times  extended  to  the  age  of  twenty,  or  twenty- 
one  ? — and  that  "  brephos,  brephyllion,"  are  used  indiscriminate- 
ly for  MINORS,  whether  they  be  twenty  days  or  twenty  years 
old  ?"  The  testimony  of  Eustathius  and  Phavorinus  proves, 
that  an  infant  is  such  only  to  the  age  of  four  years  at  the 
utmost. 

This  is  fmther  evident,  if  we  consider  the  terms  used  to 
denote  the  "  little  ones,"  whom  our  condescending  Saviour 
blessed.  Matt.  xix.  13.  The  Evangelist  Matthew  calls  them 
nuidicc,  "  little  children  ;"  Luke  calls  them  "  infants,"  Luke 
xviii.  15,  T(i  ^QBCfi}.  They  were  about  that  time  of  life,  when 
infancy  ends  and  childhood  is  beginning  ;  —  about  three  years 
of  age.  They  were  so  young  that  the  benignant  Redeemer 
for  their  security,  took  them  up  into  "  his  bended  arms,"  Mark 
X.  16.  An  action  in  the  Saviour  of  the  World  at  once  grace- 
ful and  gracious ! 

What  has  this  to  do  with  Baptism  ?  Much :  for  if  the 
Greek  language  extends  infancy  to  four  years  old,  and  the 
Greek  church  extended  baptismal  infancy  to  four  years,  while 
the  Jewish  custom  extended  it  only  to  three  years — we  see 
the  reason  at  once  why  Gregory  Nazianzen  adopted  three 
years  as  the  term  beyond  which  he  would  not  have  baptism 
delayed.  Robinson  called  this  opinion  of  Gregory  "  a  new 
affair ;"  new  as  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  King  of  Judah  ;  new 
as  the  days  of  Moses  and  Aaron ;  and  probably  as  new  as 
the  sacrificial  rites  of  the  Patriarchs  Jacob  and  Abraham,  if 
not  of  Noah  himself  ! 

The  next  period  of  life  ends  about  the  conclusion  of  the 
sixth  or  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  year.  In  what  we  have 
yet  seen,  the  little  ones  were  rather  passive  than  active,  in 
making  a  covenant :  but  in  the  case  of  King  Joash  wonder- 
fully preserved  and  at  length  produced  to  the  people  ;  we  read, 
2  Kings  xi.  17  ;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  16,  "  Joash  was  seven  years 
old ;  and  Jehoida  made  a  covenant  between  the  Lord  and  the 
King,  and  the  people— between  the  King  also,  and  the  people." 
A  child  at  that  time  of  life  therefore  was  competent  to  acts 
of  the  most  important  nature  ;  and  though  in  fact  under  guar- 

7* 


78  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

diansliip,  yet  his  assent  was  autlioritative  and  binding  :  and 
IK)  doubt  Jehoiada  delayed  the  installation  of  Joash  to  that 
lime  oi  life  purposely  for  tliis  reason. 

At  what  time  did  cliildhood  end  ?  About  twelve  years  of 
a<^e.  At  that  time  of  lil'e,  Luke  ii.  42,  our  Lord  paid  his  first 
\ihit  to  the  Temple.  About  thirteen,  those  .lews  who  ean 
read  are  called  to  attend  to  the  reading  in  the  synagogue. 
The  child  raised  to  life  by  our  Lord,  Mark  v.  42,  Luke  viii. 
42,  who  was  of  the  age  of  twelve  years  is  called  a  "  little 
daughter,"  the  "  little  child,"  for  to  that  age  the  state  of  child- 
hood continued ;  and  about  twelve  or  thirteen  it  ceased  to 
give  place  to  another  appellation  ;  for  at  twelve  or  thirteen, 
began  the  character  of  ''  young  me?i"  or  "  young  women" 
which  ended  about  twenty  years  of  age  ;  to  give  place  to  that 
of  "  w?e?i"  or  "  women  ;"  of  '■'■fathers''^  or  "  mothers.'''' 

The  same  progress  obtains  among  the  Jews  at  this  day; 
for  Mr.  Frey  tells  us  in  his  Narrative :  "  Before  I  was  three 
years  old  1  began  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  and  when  but  six 
years  of  age  I  could  perfectly  read  any  chapter  of  the  live 
books  of  Moses.  When  a  Jewish  boy  has  arrived  at  the  age 
of  thirteen  years  and  a  day,  he  is  considered  a  man,  tit  to  be 
one  of  the  ten  necessary  to  constitute  a  full  number  for  public 
worship.  At  the  age  of  twenty -one  I  received  a  second  hon- 
orary degree  to  be  a  leader  of  the  synagogue,  to  read  the 
public  prayers  and  the  law  of  Moses."  Have  we  any  such 
division  of  life  in  the  Gospel  ?  One  Apostle  speaks  of  "  trav- 
ailing again  in  birth"  of  Chihh-cn  ;  Gal.  iv.  9  ;  which  must 
be  taken  metaphorically.  The  Apostle  John  also  uses  the 
term  "  little  children"  both  metaphorically  and  in  its  proper 
and  literal  import,  1  John  ii.  12  ;  "  I  write  unto  you  little 
CHILDREN,  because  your  sins  are  forgiven  you  for  his  name's 
sake.     I  write   unto   you,   young   men  ;  I  write   unto  you, 

I-ATHERS." 

Nobody  has  ever  supposed,  that  the  terms  fathers'^  and 
young  men  are  to  be  taken  metaphorically  ;  but  the  term 
little  children  is  exactly  of  the  same  nature  as  thev  are : 
John  xxi.  15  ;  Feed  my  little  lambs  ;  ta  uQvm  ;  it  follows  that 
this  term  also  expresses  children  young  in  years.  Are  not 
the  souls  of  cliildren  at  twelve  years  old  as  precious  as  those 
at  thirteen  ?  those  of  ten  as  those  of  twelve  ?  and  those  of 
eight  or  six,  as  those  of  ten  1  Since  the  Jewish  period  of 
life  at  which  infants  became  "  little  children,"  commenced  at 
three  years  of  age,  what  reason  can  be  given  why  John,  him- 
self a  Jew,  should  not  comply  with  the  custom  of  his  country, 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  79 

and  direct  his  address  to  children  of  the  same  age,  as  Moses, 
and  Joshua,  and  Hezekiah  had  inchided  in  the  most  solemn 
religious  rites  in  the  personal  act  of  covenanting  with  God  ? 
No  reason  can  be  assigned  why  the  Gospel  should  exclude 
little  children  whom  the  law  had  included,  favoured,  and  pa- 
tronized. 

Here  we  perceive  the  genuine  application  of  the  invaluable 
rule — "  Every  word  should  be  taken  in  the  primary,  obvious 
and  ordinary  meaning,  unless  there  be  something  in  the  con- 
nection or  in  the  nature  of  things  which  requires  it  to  be  taken 
othenoise."  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  connection  nor  in  the 
nature  of  things  that  requires  this  word  little  children  to  be 
taken  in  any  other  than  its  obvious  and  literal  meaning  ;  im- 
less  Ave  Avould  annul  the  proceedings  of  Hezekiah,  Joshua 
and  Moses. 

What  is  the  doctrine  addressed  to  these  children  1  Is  it  a 
deep  question  of  divinity  ?  Are  the  powers  of  a  Newton  ne- 
cessary to  comprehend  it  ?  It  is  the  simplest  proposition  pos- 
sible ;  "  your  sins  are  forgiven  you,  for  his  name's  sake." 
Any  child  can  comprehend  this.  Thousands  of  children  of 
three  years  old  are  daily  taught  this  very  doctrine  ;  and  they 
understand  it  as  much  as  is  necessary  for  their  tender  years  : 
though  they  cannot  explain  or  learnedly  expatiate  on  it. 

This  Epistle  is  GENERAL.  It  does  not  describe  the 
state  of  "  little  children"  connected  with  a  single  church  only ; 
though  it  may  remind  us  of  those  7nany  who  in  a  sense  were 
members  of  the  church  at  Corinth ;  whereas  the  Apostle 
John  speaks  of  these  without  reserve,  wherever  his  Epistle 
might  be  presented.  We  cannot  possibly  confine  this  within 
the  limits  of  the  seven  Asiatic  churches.  The  influence  of 
his  writings  must  have  penetrated  far  and  wide  in  Asia. 
Now  as  he  employs  neither  hesitation  nor  exception,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  custom  of  admitting  infants  into  the  church  by 
baptism  was  general  :  and  this  accounts  for  our  finding  it  in 
all  parts  of  the  Christian  world  of  which  we  have  any  hints 
or  histories.  A  practice  so  general  did  not  rest  on  vague  re- 
port ;  but  on  well  authenticated  Apostolic  warrant.  For  those 
children  addressed  by  the  Apostle  were  either  within  the 
Christian  church,  or  they  were  without  it.  If  they  were 
without  it,  why  did  the  Apostle  address  them  ?  A  brother 
Apostle  says,  "  What  have  I  to  do  with  those  who  are  with- 
out /"' — and  John  was  actuated  by  the  same  spirit.  But  if 
these  "  little  children"  were  within  the  church,  how  and  ichen 
became  they  so  ?     They  must  have  undergone  the  initiatory 


80  SUDJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

rite.  Like  i\\e  farnilies  of  Lydia,  Stephanas,  &c.,  they  had 
been  admitted  by  baptism,  for  no  other  means  of  admission 
existed. 

Seeing  "  their  sins  were  forgiven,"  when  were  they  for- 
given ?  "  I  acknowledge  one  Baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins,"  say  the  ancient  Church  ;  and  the  ancient  Church  Avas 
right.  These  chikh-en  were  admitted  into  the  church  by  bap- 
tism adnhnistered  for  the  remission  of  sins,  Mark  i.  4  ;  Luke 
iii.  3  ;  Acts  ii.  38.  They  were  past  three  years  of  age,  and 
they  had  been  already  consecrated  to  God. 

Irenaeius  may  be  considered  as  a  kind  of  grandson  of  the 
Apo.stle  John  :  for  Polycarp  was  intimate  with  John  ;  and 
Irenajus  Avas  the  disciple  of  Polycarp.  He  Avas  al.so  a  man 
of  an  inquisitive  mind  ;  and  diligently  treasured  up  the  dis- 
courses of  his  master,  which  he  repeated  from  the  Apostles. 
These  are  not  only  in  perfect  concord  Avith  the  language  of 
John,  but  are  a  convincing  commentary  on  it.  A.  D.  167. 
Adv.  Hffir.  lib.  ii.  Christ  "  sanctifying  every  several  age  by 
the  likeness  it  has  to  him,  for  he  came  to  save  all  by  him- 
self.* All,  who  by  him  are  re-born  to  God  ;  infants,  and 
LITTLE  ONES,  and  CHILDREN,  and  youths,  and  Persons  of 
Mature  Age.  Therefore  he  passed  through  these  several 
ages  ; — for  infants,  he  was  made  an  infant,  sanctifying 
INFANTS.  For  LITTLE  ONES,  he  was  a  LITTLE  ONE,  Sancti- 
fying thereby  those  of  that  age  ;  and  also  being  to  them  an 
example  of  goodness,  holiness,  and  dutifulness.  To  youths, 
he  became  a  youth."  "  Re-born  to  God,"  regenerated  ;  how 
this  could  be  in  the  case  of  infants,  except  rilually  by.  baptism, 
*'  re-born  of  Avater,"  Jolm  iii.  5,  may  puzzle  the  most  knowing. 

Observe  the  variation  in  his  language.  He  does  not  say, 
Jesus  was  an  example  to  infants  ;  because  infants  are  incapa- 
ble of  following  an  example,  and  the  Apostle  John  does  not 
address  infants ;  but  he  was  an  example  to  little  ones,  because 
children  from  tliree  years  old  to  six  are  capable  of  being  in- 
fluenced by  example.     This  demonstrates,  that  infants  in  the 


*  Magister  ergo  existens  Magistri  quoque  habebat  setatem.  Non 
reprobans  nee  supergrediens  hominem,  neque  solvens  suam  legem  in 
se  huraani  generis  :  sed  omnem  oetatem  sanctificans  per  illam  qute  ad 
ipsum  erat  similitudinem.  Onnies  enim  venit  per  seinet  ipsum  salvare 
omnes,  inquam,  qui  per  cum  renascuntur  in  Deum  ;  infantes,  &  par 
vulos,  &  pueros,  &  juvenes,  &  seniores.  Ideo  per  omnem  venit  tetatem  : 
&  intantibus  infans  factus,  sanctificans  infantes  :  in  parvulis  parvulus, 
sanctificans  banc  ipsam  habentes  setatem  ;  simul  &  exemplum  illis  pie 
talis  effectus,  &  justitise  &  subjectionis  :  in  juvenibus  juvenis. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  81 

sense  of  "  men  newly  converted,"  cannot  be  intended  here  ; 
for  Christ  is  an  example  to  them,  which  they  are  bound  to 
follow.  It  is  said  that  Irenseus  contemplated  MEN  in  all 
conditions  of  life ;  are  then  youths,  children,  little  ones,  ox 
infants,  men  1 

Years  of  life.  IREN^US.  JOHN,  Apostle. 

Birth  to  3  or  4  years  Infants 

3  or  4  years  to  6,  or  7  little  ones     .     .       LITTLE     > 

6  or  7,  to  13  or  13  Children    .     .     .    CHILDREN  J 

12  or  13,  to  18  or  20  Youth     ....  Young  Men 

18  or  20,  to  elder  life  Seniors     .     .     .     Fathers. 

Is  it  possible  to  produce  a  closer  commentary  more  accu- 
rately in  unison  with  the  sentiments,  the  language  and  the 
feelings  of  the  inspired  Apostle,  who  was  the  affectionate 
disciple  of  the  most  benevolent  of  masters  ?  "  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,"  says  our  Lord  ;  "  Utile  children 
your  sins  are  forgiven  you  for  his  name's  sake,"  says  the  be- 
loved disciple  ;  "  Infants,  little  ones,  children  are  re-born  unto 
God  by  him,  sanctified  by  him,"  says  the  "  Faithful  Man," 
recording  his  testimony  for  the  benefit  of  "  others  also." 
The  Law  shall  never  triumph  over  the  Gospel  in  its  tender- 
ness for  infants.  Does  it  describe  little  ones  entering  into 
covenant  with  God  ?  Does  it  allow  little  children  to  enter  the 
sacred  precincts  and  partake  of  the  most  holy  rites  1  Does 
it  register  them  at  their  early  age  as  members  of  the  holy 
community  "  among  the  living  in  Jerusalem  ?"  Does  it  sanc- 
tify them  to  the  Lord  as  Samuel  was  sanctified  ?  So  does 
the  Gospel.  "  HE  came  to  save  ALL  by  himself ; — Infants, 
Little  ones,  Children,  Youths,  and  Seniors  ;"  so  says  the 
reverend  Disciple  ;  so  says  the  Apostolic  Master ;  and  so 
says  the  DIVINE  LORD— WHO  DARE  GAINSAY  IT? 

"  Youths,  Children,  Little  ones.  Infants  !"  this  is  a  whole 
oiKOs  ;  2,  family  !  Oikos  includes  both  sexes,  and  all  ages. 
This  is  the  reason  why  Luke  employs  that  term.  Had  he 
said  "  irfant,"  some  would  have  discovered  that  he  did  not 
mean  "  little  children."  Had  he  said  "  youths,"  they  would 
be  doubly  sure,  that  he  could  not  possibly  mean  "  children  or 
little  ones."  Had  he  used  a  masculine  term,  Sons ;  females 
had  been  excluded  on  the  principle  of  circumcision.  Where- 
as, by  using  the  term  oikos  or  family,  he  includes  ALL  ;  so 


83  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

the  inspired  Evangelist  says,  "  We  baptized  the  whole  fam- 
ily of  the  jaih)r  !"'* 

It  has  also  been  objected,  that  had  the  old  Saxon  compound 
word,  "  cradle-c/nld,"  been  used  in  reference  to  Baptism,  it 
would  have  fixed  the  application  of  the  rite.  Listen  ti)  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen — "  Hast  thou  an  infant  child  ?  Id  him  be  ded- 
icated from  his  CRADLE.  Give  him  the  great  and  excellent 
phylactery."  Here  is  the  very  "  cradle-child "  which  the 
Baptists  afTect  to  want !  When  the  same  writer  gives  his 
opinion  for  baptizing  children  at  three  years  of  age  ;  it  is  re- 
torted, "  this  was  a  new  afl'air  !"  But  the  difficulty  is  this, 
on  the  Baptist  hypothesis,  how  could  it  be  any  alTair  at  all  ? 
How  could  any  man  think  that  the  baptism  of  a  "  cradle-child'^ 
under  three  years  of  age  was  lawful  ?  How  could  Gregory 
Nazianzen  recommend  it,  if  Infant  Baptism  had  never  before 
been  heard  of  in  the  Church  ? 

Every  Baptist  admits  the  similarity  between  the  Jewish 
Passover  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  Why  then  will  they  not 
follow  out  the  conformity  ?  "Christ  our  Passover  is  sacri- 
ficed for  us  ;"  says  the  Apostle,  1  Corinthians  v.  8  ;  what 
did  the  law  require  of  worthy  partakers  of  the  Passover  ? — 
Exodus  xii.  48.  "  VVhen  a  stranger  shall  sojourn  with  thee, 
and  will  keep  the  passover  to  the  Lord,  let  ALL  his  males 
BE  circumcised,  and  then  let  HIM  come  near  and  keep  it." 
Was  not  his  own  personal  circumcision  sufficient  passport  to 
the  Passover  Table  ?  No.  Moses  says  inflexibly,  let  all 
His  males  be  circumcised.  No  perhaps,  says  Moses  ;  after 
"  every  male"  is  circumcised,  then  let  him  come  near  and 
keep  the  sacred  institution."     Not  only  must  the  father  of 

*  Distribution  of  the  ages  of  life. — The  Baptists  insinuate  that  this 
distribution  of  the  ages  of  life  is  a  peculiarity  of  IreniEUS. — Xenophon, 
Cyropoedia,  Book  I,  describes  four  stages  of  life,  popularly  distinguished 
among  the  Persians  —  "  CliiLdhuod,_  Youth,  Mature  at^e,  and  Eldership, 
or  the  time   which   was  past  military  service."     Epiphanius,  Heres. 

XXXlil.  says — "  AAXk  tlo  iiev  vitotitBiui  Sia  idKTvXov  vaiScta  yipeTiit  :  naiStoj  6c 
Hei^'iti^ctp'ii  fiaTnTinaTOi  ftcipaKico  ic  Sia  i^airui'  veaDiiriKioj  Sia  naftiov,  avfipi  Se 
CKiSiKriati    TMV    fui^oiioiv    TTiipaTTTi.tixnTUV    nu'yatpa    iia    vnfiov. — But   tO   infants 

correction  is  given  with  the  finger;  to  children  with  the  hand;  to  yomig- 
sters  with  the  whipping-rod  ;  to  youths  with  the  cane  ;  but  for  grosser 
crimes  nicti  are  punished  with  the  sword."  This  progress  from  infancy 
to  childhood,  to  youngsters,  to  youth,  and  to  manhood,  is  precisely  an- 
alogous to  that  of  IrenaRus  from  infancy  to  little  ones,  to  children,  to 
youth,  and  to  seniors  ;  which  proves  that  the  distribution  of  life  em- 
ployed by  the  Apostle  John,  1  John  ii.  12  ;  "Utile  children,  young  vien, 
and  fathers,"  was  well  known  among  those  to  whom  he  wrote;  and  being 
familiar  to  them,  they  must  literally  have  understood  his  words. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  83 

the  family  be  circumcised,  but  his  whole  oikos.  The  whole 
oikos  was  baptized,  because  "  in  Christ  Jesus  there  is  neither 
male  nor  female,"  no  distinction  in  behalf  of  either  sex. 
None  can  deny  that  if  ALL  the  sons  of  a  family  must  be 
circumcised  under  the  law,  something  of  a  similar  duty  ob- 
tained under  the  Gospel.  Think  of  Lydia,  of  the  Jailor,  of 
Stephanas,  &c.  ;  were  not  their  families  baptized  on  good 
and  valid  reasons,  or  causes  completely  satisfactory  ?  Was 
not  the  baptism  of  the  inimerons  family  of  Cornelius  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  both  a  warrant  and  an  example  ? 

Were  it  admitted  that  as  the  Lord's  Supper  was  given  to 
Gentile  converts,  instead  of  the  Passover,  so  Baptism  was 
given  to  them  instead  of  Circumcision,  controversy  would 
cease.  The  baptism  of  families  would  be  assigned  to  its 
proper  place  ;  and  the  law  of  the  ancient  ritual  would  be  ful- 
tilled  in  the  new  dispensation.  Nor  can  we  deny  that  reasons 
might  be  adduced  for  the  injunction  given  by  Moses.  It 
might  be  the  will  of  God  for  the  trial  of  obedience.  It  might 
be  appointed  as  the  test  of  established  faith.  It  might  be 
enacted  to  prevent  discord  in  families.  And  if  obedience 
must  be  so,  and  no  more,  and  no  less,  and  no  otherwise,  then 
that  precept  might  rest  on  a  conviction  of  its  being  a  touch- 
stone of  character,  of  the  hearty  good-will  with  which  a  con- 
vert showed  himself  animated  by  fulfiUing  the  law  to  its 
uttermost  punctilio. 

I  have  sought  only  Facts  and  Evidences  :  but  the  present 
topic  furnishes  an  exhortation.  Let  me  affectionately  ask  : 
Do  you  believe  that  Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for 
us  ?  Are  you  willing  to  manifest  your  regard  to  this  great 
Passover  to  the  same  extent  as  was  expected  and  commanded 
of  old  ? — if  not,  have  you  any  reason  to  think  that  you  can 
be  an  acceptable  guest  at  the  Christian  Passover  Table,  while 
you  have  at  home  any  belonging  to  you,  any  over  whom  your 
care  extends,  any  whose  welfare  you  are  bound  to  seek,  upon 
■whom  the  initiatory  rite  of  your  religious  profession  has  not 
passed  ?  This  obligation  was  of  Divine  appointment.  The 
Gospel  exceeds  the  law  in  its  attention  to  children.  Christ 
has  sanctified  the  state  of  Infancy — why  do  you  withhold  the 
sign  of  sanctification  from  those  in  that  state  ?  How  dare 
you  partake  of  the  Christian  Passover,  while  your  children 
are  in  the  unconsecrated  condition  ! — Think  what  a  contrast 
there  is  to  your  disadvantage,  between  your  conduct  and  that 
of  a  convert  to  Judaism  !  Think  what  your  avowed  allegiance 


84  SUBJECTS  or  baptism. 

demands  of  you  :  and  to  what  your  duty  as  a  Christian  by 
profession  ought  to  bind  you  ! 

Historical  Scripture  expressly  states  the  Baptism  of  families 
which  are  composed  of  children  in  all  states  of  life  ;  infants, 
little  ones,  children.  The  Apostle  Paul  acknowledges  that 
he  baptized  or  was  the  cause  of  baptizing  many  families. 
The  Apostle  John  addressed  children,  as  members  of  the 
Church,  and  fit  subjects  of  his  Apostolic  care,  in  an  epistle 
general  to  the  churches.  His  disciple  at  one  remove  affirms 
the  sanctification  of  the  state  of  infancy  by  Christ,  and  the 
ritual  sanctification  of  the  persons  of  infants  by  Baptism. 
The  Christian  writer  who  of  all  others  took  the  greatest  pains 
by  inquiry,  by  travelling,  by  close  examination,  purposely 
instituted  and  long  continued,  says  ;  the  Church  received 
from  the  Apostles,  the  injunction  to  confer  Baptism  on  infants. 
This  was  in  the  very  earliest  ages  of  the  Church  ;  within 
two  centuries.  Can  falsehood  boast  of  all  these  incidental 
unanimities,  these  coincidences,  which  in  fact  and  argument 
dove-tail  into  one  another  1  Can  this  be  error  supported  by 
such  extensive,  universal,  and  satisfactory  evidence  ? 

It  is  said  "  we  in  these  days  ought  not  to  be  too  sure,  too 
overweening  in  our  interpretation  of  Scripture  and  the  Fa- 
thers ?"  I  wish  the  sentiment  on  which  this  proposition  is 
founded  were  more  prevalent  among  Christian  sectaries.  But 
let  us  direct  our  attention  to  those  who  best  understood  their 
own  language,  and  the  practice  of  their  own  days.  What  say 
the  various  communities,  whose  evidence  interests  us  on  this 
subject  ? — Did  they  conform  to  the  Arab  or  the  Israelite  prin- 
ciple and  practice  ?  Did  they  postpone  their  rite  of  distinction 
from  other  religions,  or  did  they  not  rather  anticipate  than  delay 
it  ?  Did  they  ritually  sanctify  infants,  little  ones,  children, 
and  youths  ;  or  did  they  defer  ritual  sanctification  to  the 
seniors  and  the  aged  ? 

In  following  this  inquiry,  we  may  properly  commence  with 
the  harbinger  of  the  Gospel. 

John  the  Baptist  baptized  Infants. — For  proof  of  this, 
we  refer  to  the  testimony  of  a  body  of  men  still  existing  in 
Syria,  the  acknowledged  disciples  of  that  eminent  prophet. 
They  are  known  under  the  appellation  of  "  Disciples  of  John" 
or  simply  "disciples,"  or  "Sabians,"  Baptists:  and  sometimes, 
Hernero-Baptists,  or  Daily-Baptists.  Disciples  of  John  are 
spoken  of  repeatedly  in  the  Gospel  history. 

These  Sabians  denominate  the  Baptism  of  their  Master 
John, "  the  Baptism  of  Light ;"  Heb.  x.  32.  where  Christians 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  85 

are  spoken  of  as  illuminated,  baptized.  They  speak  of  a 
Being  called  Light,  distinct  from  the  Supreme  Being,  which 
united  itself  with  John  the  Baptist  — the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  John  i.  33 — at  the  time  Avhen  he  baptized  a  celestial 
Being  the  J^ord  from  Heaven,  who  appeared  to  him  in  the  form 
of  a  LITTLE  CHILD.  Marsh's  Michaelis  on  New  Testament,  vol. 
iii.  part  1 .  Their  books  say.  When  John  baptized  in  the  Jordan 
of  living  water,  with  the  baptism  of  life,  and  pronounced  the 
name  of  life,  the  disciple  of  life  said,  "  Stretch  out  thy  arms, 
take  me,  and  baptize  me  with  the  baptism  of  life,  and  pro- 
nounce over  me  the  NAME  which  thou  art  accustomcf)  to 
pronounce  !  John  answered  the  disciple  of  life,  '  that  cannot 
be  /'  But  the  scholars  of  John  earnestly  requested  him  ;  he 
baptized,  therefore,  the  disciple  of  life.  As  soon  as  the  Jordan 
perceived  the  disciple  of  life,  the  river  overflowed,  and  covered 
John  himself,  so  that  he  could  not  stand.  The  lustre  of  the 
disciple  of  life  shone  over  the  Jordan  ;  the  Jordan  returned 
within  its  banks,  and  John  stood  on  dry  ground."  "  The 
river  overflowing  covered  John  himself." — This  was  a  phe- 
nomenon, a  singular  incident :  for  the  river  did  not  overflow 
on  account  of  ordinary  baptisms  ;  but  on  such  occasions,  John 
standing  on  dry  ground  was  beyond  its  reach. 

This  statement  supports  two  decided  inferences.  That 
John  baptized  in  the  Great  Name:  meaning  the  name  of 
the  God  of  the  Jews,  Jehovah.  That  he  who  baptized  dis- 
ciples as  little  children,  could  have  no  aversion  to  the  bap- 
tism of  little  children  themselves.  And  this  is  rendered 
evident  by  the  practice  of  his  followers  who  baptize  children 
at  forty  days  old  ;  and  Avho  use  a  formula,  importing,  "  / 
baptize  thee  with  the  baptism  with  which  John  the  Baptist 
baptized."  They  say  that  they  know  not  correctly  the  words 
which  John  used,  and  therefore  they  adopt  this  form  ;  in 
which  the  reader  will  perceive  an  indisputable  allusion  to  the 
sacred  name  which  no  Jew  ventured  to  pronounce  ;  the  true 
pronunciation  of  which  the  Jews  affirmed  to  be  lost.  These 
people  also  baptize  by  trine  immersion ;  which  is  an  unquestion- 
able reference  to  the  Trinity:  three  plungirigs,hut  owe  baptism. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  compare  with  this  the  history  as 
recorded  in  the  Hebrew  Gospel  of  Matthew.  Hier.  lib.  iv. 
Comm.  in  Esaiam.  "  It  came  to  pass,  as  the  Lord  ascended 
out  of  the  water,  that  the  whole  fountain  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
descended,  and  rested  upon  him,  and  said  unto  him,  "  My  son, 
I  have  eorpected  thy  coming  in  all  the  Prophets ;  and  now  I 
remain  upon  thee  ;   thou  art  he  in  whom  I  rest,  who  shall  reign 


86  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

for  ever."*  The  Gospel  of  the  Ebionites,  a  branch  of  the 
Nazarcnes,  had  these  words — Epiph.  Hscr.;  "  John  came  bap- 
tizing the  baptism  of  repentance  in  the  river  Jordan.  After 
the  people  had  been  baptized,  Jesus  came  also,  and  was 
baptized  by  John,  and  as  he  ascended  out  of  the  water,  the 
heavens  were  opened,  and  he  saw  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  form  of  a  dove,  which  descended  and  came  towajds  him  ; 
and  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  saying,  '  Thou  art  my 
beloved  Son,  in  thee  have  I  been  veil  plcasf;d.'  Immediately 
a  great  light  shone  about  the  place.  John  seeing  it,  said  unto 
him.  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  Again  a  voice  from  heaven  said 
unto  him,  '  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  v:hom  1  haiie  b<en  uell 
pleased.'  Then  John  falling  down  before  him  said,  '  f  pray 
thee.  Lord,  baptize  thou  me;'  but  he  forbade  him,  saying, 
'  Suffer  it  to  be  so;  for  thus  it  becornelh  that  all  things  be 
fulflled:  " 

Whether  the  "  Great  Name"  was  light,  or  life,  certainly  it 
intended  Jehovah.  An  ancient  creed  adopts  the  simile,  "  Light 
of  light ;  very  God  of  Aery  God  ;"  and  this  Baptism  inculcates 
the  doctrine  of  a  Trinity,  before  there  could  possibly  be  in 
this  expressive  rite  any  commemoration  whatever  of  the 
washing  of  the  dead  body  of  the  great  Redeemer. 

In  the  form  of  words  commanded  by  our  Lord,  to  be  used 
in  administering  Baptism,  Matth.  xxviii.  19,  there  is  a  clear 
and  immutable  inculcation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  but 
not  a  shadow  of  injunction  to  perpetuate  any  ritual  remem- 
brance of  his  dead  body  :  not  the  slightest  allusion  to  any  rite 
of  purification  passed  upon  it,  or  to  any  imitation  of  such  rite 
to  be  practised  by  his  disciples. 

If  we  examine  the  practice  of  the  churches  severally,  the 
same  ideas  are  predominant  ;  that  consecration  to  the  Trinity 
is  the  main  import  and  purport  of  Baptism  ;  and  that  they 
were  and  are  desirous  of  conferring  this  consecration  on  chil- 
dren in  early  life — in  baptismal  infancy. 


•  Baptism  amone;  the  Jews,  although  administered  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  only,  might  include  a  recognition  of  the  Trinity,  iren.tushas 
preserved  two  formularies  of  baptism  used  by  the  Valentinians,  of  which, 
though  apparently  mere  gibiberish,  it  has  lately  been  attempted  to  make 
sense  and  meaning.  This  is  the  version — "  In  nomen  tuum,  Kxal- 
tissime  ;  in  id  quod  est  lumen,  est  principium  vita;,  Spiritus,  quoniam 
tu  in  corpore  tuo  regnasti.— In  thy  name,  O  most  exalted,  in  that  which 
is  light  and  the  principle  of  life.  Spirit,  inasmuch  as  thou  in  thy  body 
art  reigning."  The  mention  of  light,  spirit,  and  exaltation  clearly 
alludes  to  a  Trinity. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM,  87 

The  Apostles  rebaptizecl  the  disciples  of  John.  That  was 
not  because  they  had  received  his  baptism  in  their  infancy, 
but  because  they  had  explicitly  professed  neither  the  name  of 
Jesus,  nor  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Oixog  and  Oixtu. — It  is  proper  to  advert  again  specifically 
to  these  terms  in  connection  with  Infant  Baptism. 

Aristotle  says  that  Oikia  means  both  "bond  and  free." 
One  passage  of  Scripture  afforded  the  most  proper  opportu- 
niiy  to  include  a  servant  in  the  term  family,  John  viii.  35  ; 
"  'i"he  SERVANT  abidelh  not  in  the  house  —  not  oikos,  h\xi  oikia 
— for  ever ;  but  the  son  abideth  ever."  Thus  the  son  is  a 
member  o'i  the  oikia,  but  the  servant  is  not  a  member  of  the 
oikos. 

VVhen  oikos  is  used  to  denote  &  family,  the  connection  of 
numbers  with  the  term  forms  the  experimentum  crucis  of  the 
distinction  between  the  family,  oikos,  and  oikia  the  entire 
establishment,  including  servants.  We  read  of  the  oikos, 
family  of  Noah,  consisting  of  eight  persons,  being  saved  in 
the  ark  :  here  servants  are  evidently  excluded.  Gen.  vii.  1  ; 
2  Peter  iii.  21.  So  we  read  of  the  whole  oikos —  (amily  of 
Jacob  that  went  down  into  Egypt  with  him,  being  sixty-six 
persons.  Genesis  xlvi.  26.  The  servants  are  excluded,  for 
they  amounted  to  some  hundreds.  "  Ahab  had  seventy  sons 
in  Samaria— look  out  the  best,  and  fight  for  your  master's 
family" — oikos.  The  servants  are  excluded  ;  2  Kings  x.  1,5, 
&c. 

That  the  lxx  express  infants  by  the  term  oikos,  appears 
from  the  following  instances.  Gen.  xviii.  19  :  "  For  I  know 
Abraham  that  he  will  command  his  children,  even  his  family 
— oikos — after  him."  Isaac  was  only  promised,  not  born  at 
the  time.  Gen.  xxxiv.  30:  "I  being  few  in  number,  shall 
be  destroyed,  I  and  my  family,  oikos.'"  There  were  infants 
in  Jacob's  family,  at  the  time. — Numbers  xviii.  31  :  "Ye  shall 
eat  it  in  every  place,  ye  and  your  families,  oikos;  for  it  is 
your  reward  for  service."  The  infants  of  the  priests  and 
Levites  did  eat  at  three  years  old  their  "rewards  for  service." 
—  Deut.  xii.  7  ;  xv.  20  :  "  And  ye  shall  eat  before  the  Lord 
and  rejoice,  ye  and  your  families,  oikos."  The  same  infants 
who  did  eat  before  the  Lord  are  here  said  to  "  rejoice"  before 
the  Lord. — Deut.  xiv.  26  :  "  Thou  shalt  eat  before  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  thou  shalt  rejoice,  thou  and  thy  family,  oikos." 
Here  again  the  parent  is  said  to  "  rejoice"  with  his  family 
before  the  Lord  ;  which  is  exactly  what  is  said  of  the  Jailor's 


bo  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

family  when  baptized  ;  and  as  it  here  expresses  the  presence 
of  infants,  children  of  tliree  or  four  years  old,  so  undoubtedly 
it  does  in  the  New  Testament. — Deut.  xxv.  9  :  "  Then  shall 
his  brother's  wife  say,  "  Thus  shall  it  be  done  unto  that  man 
who  will  not  build  up  his  brother's  family,  oikos" — by  pro- 
creation of  infants. —  1  Sam.  ii.  33  :  "  The  increase  of  thy 
family — oikos — shall  die  in  the  flower  of  their  age."  This 
must  mean  infants. — 2  Sam.  vii.  16,  18,  25,  27,  29  :  "  And 
thy  family,  oikos,  and  thy  kingdom  shall  be  established  for 
ever.     Thou  hast   spoken  of  thy  servant's  family,  oikos,  for 

a  great  while  to  come."     1  Chron.  xvii.  23,  23,  25. This 

must  mean  infants. — 1  Kings  xiii.  2  :  "  Behold,  a  child  shall 
be  born  to  the  family,  oikos,  of  David." — This  child  must  be 
an  infant.  — Tsalm  cxiii.  9  :  "He  caused  the  barren  woman 
to  have  a  family,  oikos ;  and  to  be  a  joyful  mother  of  children." 
Infants  are  here  intended. 

When  Jacob  was  going  down  into  Egypt,  the  sacred  wri- 
ter informs  us  that  the  number  of  his  sons  and  his  sons'  sons, 
of  his  daughters  and  his  sons'  daughters,  with  him,  was  sixty- 
six,  lie  then  mentions  particularly  the  "two  souls"  born  to 
Joseph  in  Egypt,  who  were  infants,  and  closes  by  saying ; 
"  All  the  souls  of  the  house,  oikos,  of  Jacob  were  three  score 
and  ten"  The  phrase  "  all  the  house"  is  evidently  inappli- 
cable till  these  two  infants  of  Joseph  are  included.  Omit 
these,  the  term  does  not  apply :  insert  them,  the  term  is  in- 
stantly and  correctly  applied.  The  term,  therefore,  express- 
es the  presence  of  those  infants.  Without  those  infants  the 
number  cannot  be  made  up.  The  sacred  writer  wails  io  express 
them ;  and  then  all  the  house  is  the  suitable  phrase.  This 
passage  is  demonstrative  of  the  presence  of  infants  in  the 
term  oikos ;  not  merely  morally  or  grammatically  ;  but  by 
means  of  the  numbers,  mathematically  and  strictly  demon- 
strative. The  infants  are  here  expressed  in  the  term  all  the 
house.  Neither  fraud  nor  force  can  eject  them.  The  Greek 
adds  five  infants,  the  sons  of  Manasseh,  and  a  grandson  of 
Benjamin,  making  all  the  house  of  Jacob  seventy  five  persons. 

The  presence  of  infants  is  expressed  beyond  all  possibility 
of  doubt,  in  the  use  of  a  term  by  the  lxx.  Exod.  i.  1  : 
"  Now  these  are  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  who 
came  into  Egypt,  every  man,  napoixi,  with  all  his  house,"  his 
own  personal  family.  The  sons  of  Jacob  did  bring  their 
little  ones  in  the  wagons  sent  by  Pharaoh.  Gen  xlvi.  5. 
The  intention  of  the  lxx  is  to  inform  us,  that  the  whole  did 
not  come  down  confusedly,  but  each  man  distinctly,  exagog, 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  89 

heading  all  his  family.  Here  then  the  term  with  all  his  house, 
PANOIKI,  intentionally  expresses  the  presence  of  infants. 

What  is  desired  ?  Merely  to  allow  the  same  force  to  the 
same  word  in  the  New  Testament  which  it  bears  in  the  lxx. 
The  Apostles  icrote  in  a  language,  the  words  of  which  had  been 
long  settled.  The  Jailor  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his  family; 
and  he  rejoiced  ^A'ITH  all  his  house,  -napoixi,,  at  the  head  of 
his  family,  believing  in  God.  But  panoiki  expresses  the  pre- 
sence of  infants  in  the  instance  of  the  sons  of  Jacob  de- 
scending into  Egypt ;  why  then  does  it  not  equally  express 
the  presence  o/"  infants  in  the  instance  of  the  Jailor's  family  ? 
If  the  terms  all  tlie  house  express  infants  in  the  instance  of 
ALL  Jacob's  family,  why  do  they  not  equally  express  infants 
in  the  case  of  all  the  Jailor's  family  ?  If  there  be  any  scruples 
about  the  Jailor's  family,  there  can  be  none  about  the  family  of 
Cornelius,  of  which  it  is  said,  "he  with  all  his  house  — aw 
■navTi,  t(Tj  oXxo}  aviov  —  feared  God  :"  and  all  were  baptized. 
"  Can  infants  fear  God  ?"  Did  not  Samuel  fear  God,  when 
he  "  ministered"  to  the  Lord  in  his  sanctuary  ?— and  Timothy, 
when  he  studied  Holy  Scripture  ?     They  were  irfants. 

Being  myself  convinced  that  the  Apostles  practised  Infant 
Baptism,  and  that  the  Evangelist  meant  to  tell  us  so  ;  I  affirm 
that  the  natural  import  of  the  term  oikos,  family,  includes 
children  of  all  ages.  In  proof,  I  offer  ffty  examples  ;  ii fifty 
are  not  sufficient,  I  offer  a  hundred ;  if  a  hundred  are  not  suf- 
ficient, two  hundred;  \i  two  hundred  are  not  sufficient, yowr 
hundred.  I  affirm  that  oikos  very  often  expresses  the  pre- 
sence of  infants  ;  of  this  I  offer  fifty  examples  ;  ai^  if  we 
admit  classical  instances, _^;:y  more.  Euripides  alone  affords 
half  the  number  ;  though  he  frequently  uses  domes  instead  of 
oikos.  xMore  than  three  hundred  instances  have  been  examined, 
which  have  proved  perfectly  satisfactory. 

What  terms  could  the  Evangelist  have  used  to  satisfy  us  of 
the  Apostolic  practice  of  Infant  Baptism  ?  Had  he  said, 
"  We  baptized  i7ifants ;"  Origen  says  this  — and  Baptists  im- 
mediately exclaim,  '■^Metaphorical  infants!  metaphorical  in- 
fants  !"  Had  he  said,  "  We  baptized  children,"  as  the  apostles 
Paul  and  John,  and  Clement  of  Alexandria  say,  they  answer, 
"  Metaphorical  children  !"  But  Clement's  allusion,  "  the  fisher- 
man and  CHILDREN  drawn  out  of  the  water,"  is  extant  among 
other  Christian  emblems  of  ancient  sculpture  — Arringhius, 
Roma  Potteranea,  Tom.  II.  tab.  xiii ;  in  which  are  seen  an 
angler,  at  whose  line  three  fishes  are  nibbling  ;  and  already 

8* 


90  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

drawn  out  is,  not  a  bearded  sage,  not  a  man,  but  a  boy  about 
four  or  five  years  old  !     So  much  for  metaphorical  children  ! 

I  submit  this  rule  —  "  Whenever  a  verb  implying  locomo- 
tion, entering  in,  going  out,  Slc,  is  coimected  with  the  term 
oikos,  look  for  a  dwclli?} g-house  ;"  for  a  man  enters  a  family 
by  affinity,  matrimony,  adoption,  &c. ;  but  he  enters  a  dwell- 
ing by  locomotion.  I^et  us  try  some  passages  by  this  rule. 
"  Into  whatever  house  ye  enter."  Men  on  a  journey  enter  a 
house  by  locomotion  ;  it  therefore  means  a  d  well  in  i:;-.  Acts 
vii.  10  ;  We  are  informed,  that  Pharaoh  made  Joseph  gover- 
nor over  Egypt,  and  over  all  his  house ;"  but  what  have  chil- 
dren to  do  here  ?  In  1  Kings  xiii.  8,  we  have  the  expres- 
sion—" The  man  of  God  said  to  the  King,  If  thou  wilt  give 
me  half  thine  house,"  oikos,  lxx— his  Royal  Property  :  surely 
he  did  not  mean  half  his  children.  Joseph  was  over  Poti- 
phar's  house  so  supremely,  that  his  master  knew  not  ought  he 
had,  save  the  bread  he  did  eat;  and  had  kept  back  nothing 
from  Joseph,  save  his  wife.  Into  exactly  the  same  supre- 
macy of  administration  over  his  property,  house,  oikos.  Gen. 
xli.  40,  did  king  Pharaoh  place  Jdseph  — "ordy  in  the  throne 
will  I  be  greater  than  thou."  This  is  the  li^ht  in  which  the 
Psalmist  viewed  the  transaction;  for  he  tells  us,  "  He  made 
him  lord  of  his  house,  and  ruler  over  all  his  substance,"  his 
Royal  Property.  Psalm  cv.  21.  Substance  is  properly  con- 
nected with  the  king'' s  house.  2  Chron.  xxi.  17;  Proverbs 
vi.  31  :  "A  thief  shall  restore  seven-fold,  all  the  substance  o( 
his  house,"  all  his  property.  Canticles  viii.  7  :  "  If  a  man 
would  give  all  the  substance  of  his  house,"  all  his  property  for 
love,  it  would  be  utterly  contemned.  2  Sam.  xii.  8  :  Gen. 
xxxix.  5. 

When  the  Philippian  Jailor  inquired,  "  What  must  I  do 
to  be  saved  ?"  the  Apostle  answered,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and  thy  house,"  inclu- 
ding his  servants.  The  oikia,  servants  of  the  Jailor,  heard 
the  Word  :  but  we  do  not  read  that  one  of  the  oikia  was  bap- 
tized, saved.  But  this  Ave  do  read  of  the  Jailor,  and  of  all 
his  house  ;  which  is  exactly  what  the  Apostle  foretold. 

Well  therefore  may  the  words  of  an  objector,  only  changed 
in  the  application  of  them,  be  adopted  —  T/ie  .s^cre^i  ivriters 
baptized  infants  !  The  primitive  Christians  baptized  infants! 
"  We  know  they  did,  because  they  have  told  us  so  themselves." 

Christian  Symbols  used  in  the  first  centuries. — 
The  witness  of  Scripture  is  preponderant  and  decisive  ;  yet 
inquirers  should  examine  and  obey  whatever  evidence  bears 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  91 

upon  the  question  from  other  sources.  Hence  the  value  of 
the  Christian  writers,  and  of  the  Christian  pictures  of  the  first 
ages.* 

The  open  profession  of  Christianity  was  at  first  exposed  to 
incessant  and  imminent  peril.  Against  this,  believers  provided 
in  part  by  a  certain  degree  of  secrecy.  To  preserve  which 
they  adopted  a  series  of  private  symbols  ;  and  by  these,  while 
they  concealed  themselves  from  the  heathen,  they  discovered 
each  other.  The  Revelation  opens  with  one  ;  "  I  am  the 
Alpha,  and  the  Omega,''  Eyw  eifit  TO  A  kolv  TO  SI.  Admit- 
ting the  usual  date  of  this  symbolical  book,  A.  D.  96,  it 
follows  that  before  the  end  of  the  first  century,  and  during  the 
life  of  the  Apostle  John,  this  symbol  A  and  SI  was  current 
among  the  faithful. 

*  Tradition— Notwithstanding  Tradition  is  a  Scripture  term  used 
by  the  Apostle  to  describe  his  own  writings,  because  it  has  latterly  been 
employed  to  express  unwritten  reports,  handed  down  from  age  to  age, 
and  therefore  uncertain  and  often  mutilated  or  perverted,  the  Baptists 
charge  the  Pcedobaptists  with  depending  on  incompetent  and  unworthy 
authority.  That  sense  of  the  term  is  perfectly  inapplicable  to  the  age 
of  the  Apostles  and  of  the  Apostolic  men,  among  whom  it  had  no  such 
meaning.  The  term  IlapaJomf,  Paradosis,  Tradition,  as  used  by  the  an- 
cient Fathers,  signifies  good  and  credible  evidence  delivered  by  one 
person  to  another,  either  written  or  by  speaking  ;  and  is  applied  even  to 
the  Gospels,  which  were  called,  Suicer.  Thesaur.  Tom.  ii.,  E"ayy£Ai/ca( 
Trapaioattq,  Traditionary  Gospels.  Thus  Irenaeus  says  of  the  Gospel  of 
Mark — "  Marcus  discipulus  et  inle.rpres  Petri,  el  ip^a  qihce  annunciata 
erant  per  scripla  nobis  tradidit.  JVIaik  was  the  disciple  and  interpreter 
of  Peter,  and  the  things  that  were  spoken  by  Peter  he  has  preserved  by 
writing  tradition  for  us."  The  people  urged  Mark  to  write  ;  as  the 
Elders  of  the  church  afterwards  urged  the  Apostle  John  to  lurite. 
This  desire  for  ivritlen  tradition  was  the  very  contrary  to  a  disposition 
to  depend  on  uncertain  tradition.  Clement  of  Rome  says,  Epis,  Co- 
rinth, xlii.  xlv.,  "  The  Apostles  appointed  their  first-fruits  to  be  Bishops 
and  Ministers  over  such  as  should  believe,  having  first  proved  them  by 
the  Spirit.  They  gave  direction,  when  they  should  die,  how  other 
chosen  and  approved  men  should  succeed  in  their  ministry."  This  is 
perfectly  coincident  with  Paul's  charge  to  Timothy,  to  commit  to  faith- 
ful men  what  he  had  heard  that  Aposile  deliver  to  many  Christian  bre- 
thren for  this  purpose,  2  Tim.  ii.  2.  Justin  Martyr  says  of  himself : 
"  Having  been  a  disciple  of  the  Apostles,  I  became  a  teacher  of  the  na- 
tions. Those  things  which  were  delivered  to  me  I  minister  to  them  who 
are  become  worthy  disciples  of  the  Truth."  The  Epistle  to  Diognetus 
ascribed  to  Justin  says  expressly,  "  the  Tradition  of  the  Apostles  is  ob- 
served" The  churches  enjoyed  the  instruction  of  the  Apostolic  men 
long  after  that  date.  This,  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  is  of  so  much 
the  greater  consequence,  as  about  A-  D.  200,  there  arose  a  violent 
dispute  concerning  this  rite  ;  and  about  the  same  time  Tertullian  re- 
monstrated against  Infant  Baptism  ;  which  proves  the  prevalence  of  the 
practice. 


92  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

A  passage  hitherto  covered  Avith  impenetrable  darkness,  as 
commentators  confess,  is  illustrated  by  this  custom,  Uev.  ii. 
17  ;  "  To  him  that  ovcrcomcth  will  I  give  a  while  stone,  and 
in  the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which  no  man  knoweth 
saving  he  that  receiveth  it."  On  this,  says  Doddridge : 
*'  Among  the  Greeks,  a  white  stone  was  a  token  of  absolution, 
as  a  black  stone  was  of  condemnation  ;  but  the  writing  a  n&w 
name  upon  this  stone  is  not  illustrated  by  any  ancient  prac- 
tice. I  liavc  sometimes  thought  the  phrase  may  signify  one 
that  hath  received  it,  as  it  seems  a  name  given  to  any  person 
must  be  known  to  others,  or  it  would  be  given  in  vain." 

The  term  for  stone  here  used  does  not  import  a  large  stone 
proper  for  building,  but  a  small  pebble.  It  is  used  to  describe 
the  vote,  voice,  given  by  Paul — if"](fOf,  Acts  xxvi.  10  ;  about 
the  size  of  a  bean  ;  as  customary  among  the  Greeks  in  voting. 
The  Egyptian  pebbles,  on  which  the  scarabeus  is  scidptured, 
are  usually  red  Carnelian,  about  the  size  of  our  watch-seals  ; 
but  there  is  also  a  white  Carnelian  equally  used,  and  this  is 
apparently  the  stone  intended  in  the  text. 

The  term  name  does  not  of  necessity  imply  an  appellation, 
but  a  badge  or  cognizance  ;  that  by  which  a  person  or  thing 
is  known  or  distinguished  ;  and  it  is  so  used  in  this  book  : 
Revelation  xiii.  1  ;  xiv,  1  ;  xvii.  3.  "A  Lamb  stood  on 
Mount  Sion,  and  with  him  a  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand 
having  his  Father's  na?ne  written  on  their  foreheads  ;"  an  ab- 
breviated token,  or  significant  cypher,  or  symbol,  the  mark 
of  God  set  on  the  forehead  of  his  people,  as  in  the  vision 
seen  by  Ezekiel,  iv.  6.  "  I  saw  a  woman  sitting  on  a  scarlet 
coloured  beast,  full  of  names  of  blusphemy,"  blasphemous 
symbols  :  "full  of  names"  is  clearly  inapplicable  ;  the  beast 
could  not  be  written  all  over.  "  I  saw  a  beast  rise  out  of  the 
sea,  and  upon  his  heads  the  name  of  blasphemy,"  a  blasphe- 
mous device,  badge  or  cognizance,  like  those  placed  on  the 
head  of  idols  ;  the  sun  with  its  rays,  the  moon  with  her  cres- 
cent, &LC. 

We  have  now  the  key  to  our  text — "  To  him  that  over- 
comcth  will  I  give  a  white  Carnelian  pebble  stone,  and  in  the 
stone  a  new  cognizance  or  device  engraved,  which  no  man 
knoweth  save  one  who  hath  received  it,"  and  is  in  the  secret. 
With  this  exactly  coincides  the  language  of  Clemens  Alex- 
andrinus,  A.  D.  190,  writing  to  primitive' Christians,  who  says, 
"  You  have  also  your  little  private  tokens  or  symbols,  that  of  a 
dove  or  of  a  fish,  or  a  swift  ship  driven  by  the  wind,  or  a 
musical  lyi-e,  a  device  used  by  Polycrates,  or  a  ship's  anchor, 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM,  93 

which  Seleucus  engraved  on  his  coins  ;  or  if  your  device  be 
any  one  engaged  in  fishing,  angling,  it  puts  you  in  mind  of  the 
Apostle,  and  of  the  children  which  are  drawn  out  of  the 
water."* 

This  testimony  is  vahiable  ;  as  it  proves  the  use  of  private 
symbols  among  the  Christians  in  the  second  century,  and  by 
illustrating  the  passage  in  the  Revelation,  shows  the  practice 
to  date  from  the  first  century  ;  and  as  it  proves  that  children 
Avere  at  that  time,  as  formerly  by  the  Apostle,  dravi^n  out  of 
the  w^ater  of  baptism. 

Although  Clemens  describes  all  Christian  w^ho  are  not 
arrived  at  heaven  as  children,  compared  with  what  they  will 
be  in  that  state  ;  yet  the  term  cannot  be  taken  metaphorically 
in  this  passage,  unless  the  dove,  the  fish,  the  ship,  the  lyre 
and  the  anchor  could  be  taken  metaphorically  ;  which  would 
be  false  ;  for  the  anchor  may  be  seen  on  the  coins  of  Seleucus. 
Among  the  symbols  on  Christian  sepulchral  inscriptions  of 
the  earliest  ages  we  find  the  jish,  the  anchor,  and  the  done  ; 
which  justify  his  words  in  their  full  extent  and  literal  accep- 
tation.! "  A  FAITHFUL,  descended  from  ancestors  who  were  also 
FAITHFULS,  Here  lies  Zosimus  :  he  lived  two  years,  one  month, 
and  twenty-five  days."  The  anchor  and  the  fish  mark  a  period 
of  primitive  and  suffering  Christianity.  A  faithful  ! — a 
church  member  !  at  two  years  of  age,  descended  from  faith- 
fuls ;  who  in  causing  their  infant  to  be  baptized,  continued 
the  practice  of  their  primitive  Christian  ancestors.  In  what 
sense  did  they  or  their  forefathers  understand  the  Apostolic 
injunction  ? — The  following  with  the  symbol  of  a  dove  bears 
the  same  import.  "  Achillia,  newly  baptized,  is  buried 
here  ;  she  died  at  the  age  of  one  year  and  five  months. \  Pro- 
bably the  accompanying  figure  of  a  dove  marks  the  female 
sex  particularly.  It  is  a  Christian  symbol  of  the  second 
century,  derived  doubtless  from  an  earlier  period.  "  Newly 
baptized  .'" — In  what  sense  did  they  who  baptized  that  child, 


*  Sint  autem  nobis  vel  vobis  signacula,  columba,  vel  piscis,  vel 
navis,  quae  celeri  cursu  a  vento  fertur,  vel  lyra  musica,  qua  usus  est 
Polycrates,  vel  ancora  nautica,  quam  insculpebat  Seleucus:  et  si  sit 
aliquis  qui  piscetur,  metninerit  Apostoli,  et  puerorum  qui  ex  aqua  extra- 
huntur.     Clemens  Alexandrinus.     Pccdasogus.  lib.  iii.  cap.  11. 

t  Fidelis  ex  Fidelibus  Zosimus  Heic'Jaceo.  Vixi  Annos  II.  Mens. 
1.  Dies  XXV. — Muratori,  Fabretti. 

t  Defuncta  est  Achillia  Neophyta  unius  anni  Mensium  v.  vii.  Kal. 
Martias  Die  Lunae.  Muratori,  vol.  iv. 


94  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

not  a  year  and  a  half  old,  understand  the  language  and  practice 
of  the  Apostles  ? 

The  Inscriptions  which  the  Sepulchres  contain,  furnish 
abundant  materials  for  "  Facts  and  Evidences."  Among 
the  thousands  which  remain  are  many  of  the  primitive 
Christians  :  and  some  of  these  refer  to  children  who  died 
young.  An  example  may  explain  my  meaning,  while  it 
furnishes  a  specimen.     Buonarotti,  43. 

2 IM  HAIKU -J  T.Kyi  I- 
KJASINTMO^I-EZH 
:SEN-  E  TIT-  L4-  HMEPJ  V- K F 
ETEAEYTHi:ExN  mir-KAL-AOBEMP  «>AETi2  KAI 
TAAAS2  YlIATOIIi. 

SiMPLiciA — called  also  Calonvmus,  ivho  lived  Years  XL 
Days  XXI II.  His  course  was  ended  by  violence,  the  I3th 
of  the  Calends  of  November,  Faustus  and  Tallus  being  Consuls. 

This  reference  to  the  Consuls  gives  a  date,  by  which  we 
find  the  child  was  a  martyr  under  Dioclesian.  He  had  cer- 
tainly been  baptized,  as  appears  from  his  receiving  a  second 
name  Calonymus ;  and  he  was  a  martyr  at  eleven  years  of 
age. 

Another  inscription  commemorates  a  still  younger  Christian. 
It  has  explicit  marks  of  primitive  Christianity  in  persecuting 
times.     Buonoratti  17;  Fabretti,  cap.  4. 

I XQ rc . 

I     Posthumius.  Euthcnion.  Fidelis.  qui.   Gratia  sancta.  con- 

secutus. 
X     Pridie.  natali   suos  erotina.  hora.   reddit.  debitum.   vitae. 

suae,  qui  vixit. 
0     Annis  Sex.  et  depositus.  v.  idus  Julias,  die  Jovis.  quo  et 

natus.  est.  cujus. 
T     Anima.  cumSauctos  inpace.  Filio  Bcnemerenti.  Postumii. 

felicissimus. 
C.     N.  Ey  Euthenia  Fytista.  avia.  ipse  jus. 

Posthumius  Euthcnion,  a  faithful  Christian  brother,  accom- 
panied with  the  Holy  Grace.  On  the  day  before  his  birth-day, 
early,  he  gave  back  again  that  which  he  had  received,  his  life. 
He  lived  six  years ;  and  was  buried  the  fifth  of  the  ides  of 
July,  on  a   Thursday,  on  which  day  he  was  born  :  whose   soul 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  95 

is  with  the  Holy  One  in  peace.  Erected  to  a  welt-deserving 
son,  the  most  happy  Posthumius,  by  order  of  his  grandmother, 
Euthenia  Fytista. 

Was  the  title  of  Fidelis  ever  given  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians to  any  one  before  baptism  1 — On  the  contrary,  they  were 
baptized  to  be  md^Ae.  jidclrs.  This  then  decides  the  character 
of  this  child.  He  was  a  follower  of,  or  was  followed  by,  the 
"  Holy  Grace."  This  child  then  had  been  baptized  :  yet  he 
died  before  he  was  six  years  old.  As  his  grandmother  appears 
to  have  been  a  zealous,  warm-hearted  Christian,  we  cannot 
suppose  this  son  would  pass  the  third  year  of  his  life  without 
undergoing  this  rite  :  perhaps  much  earlier.  "  His  soul  is 
with  the  Just  One  in  Peace,"  says  the  iascription  :  while  the 
symbolical  Acrostic  IX&TC  sufficiently  marks  his  Christi- 
anity ;  with  the  necessity  of  the  time,  for  concealing  the 
profession  of  the  cross.  A  more  satisfactory  instance  of  Infant 
Baptism,  excepting  the  absence  of  a  date,  can  hardly  be  ex- 
pected ;  for  this  "faithful"  baptized  Christian  brother,  was 
not  SIX  YEARS  of  age. 

But  the  Christian  symbol  IXGTC  is  placed  on  the  top,  as 
well  as  down  the  side  of  this  inscription  ;  probably  expressing 
a  Christian  ancestry.  The  letter  N.  importing  Nika,  "  Christ 
has  overcom'"  being  a  Greek  symbolical  term,  seems  to 
suggest,  with  the  Greek  termination  Euthenion,  that  it  was  a 
Greek  family.  Euthenia,  the  grandmother,  only  did  for  the 
child  what  had  formerly  been  done  for  herself  and  her  family  ; 
and  this  fact  refers  the  Infant  Baptism  back  to  that  earlier 
date.* 

These  instances  show  that  the  words  of  Clemens  in  reference 
to  those  Christian  symbols,  the  fsh,  the  anchor,  the  dove,  and 
the  ship,  must  be  taken  literally  ;  where  then  is  the  pretence 
for  taking  his  term  children  other  than  literally  ?  Were  not 
Zosimus,  Achillia,  and  the  other  little  ones,  literally  children 


'  The  term  IX0YC  is  derived  from  the  first  letters  of  the  name  of 
Christ  placed  ihus — 

I    lerrovi  JeSUS 

X  Xp«rroy  Christ 

G  Ocov  of  God 

Y  Y<oj  the  Son— 

G  C'orrip  Saviour. 

Those  united  letters  form  the  Greek  word  signifying  a  fish  ;  whence 
^fish  became  the  private  mark  of  Christian  sepulchres,  and  concealed 
ihem  from  violation  by  the  Heathen.  Clem.  Alex.  Paedagog.  Lib.  iii. 
Cap.  10. 


96  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

drawn  out  of  the  water  of  baptism  ;  and  in  no  other  sense 
could  that  Christian  teacher,  when  writing  to  Christians  and 
using  that  expression,  understand  the  Apostle's  language  and 
practice. 

The  primitive  Christians  also  caused  the  symbol  to  be  en- 
graven on  their  seals  and  rings  ;  and  by  that  token  they  dis- 
covered those  who  had  been  baptized  into  their  common  faith. 
In  reference  to  this,  TertuUian,  De  Bapt.,  chapter  i,  speaking 
of  Fideles,  the  Faithful,  who  had  passed  through  the  water 
of  Baptism,  calls  them  pisciculi,  little  fishes.  Combine  this 
with  the  repetition  of  the  symbol,  IX(:)YC,  on  the  tomb  of 
Posthumius.  Whoever  perseveringly  pursues  this  argument 
will  produce  many  instances  which  may  be  referred  to  the 
first  and  second  century.  Who  then  will  venture  to  affirm 
that  "  Infant  Baptism  is  a  new  affair  ?" 


CHURCH-MEMBERSHIP  OF  CHILDREN. 

Under  the  Mosaic  law,  the  children  of  the  Hebrews, 
when  arrived  at  three  years  of  age,  or  from  that  to  four  years, 
were  thought  capable,  by  the  leaders  of  their  nation,  of  cov- 
enanting with  God,  in  common  with  other  members  of  the 
Old  Testament  church  ;  and  became  in  a  sense  public  per- 
sons. The  Children  of  the  priests  were  at  that  age  admitted 
into  the  Temple  and  "  did  eat  the  most  holy  things."  At 
three  years  old  Samuel  "  worshipped  the  Lord,"  1  Samuel  i. 
28,  ii.  11,  in  his  sanctuary:  and  in  New  Testament  times, 
at  three  years  old,  from  his  infancy,  2  Tim.  iii.  15,  ano  ^gecpovg, 
Timothy  knew  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  were  able  to  make 
him  wise  to  salvation.  Woidd  the  Apostles  have  refused 
Baptism  to  such  Children  ? 

When  our  Lord's  doctrine  during  his  personal  ministry  was 
favourably  received,  the  persons  so  disposed  were  called  dis- 
ciples ;  and  this  is  their  usual  appellation  in  the  Gospels.  So 
we  read,  "  Jesus  made  and  baptized  more  disciples  than  John." 
He  made  them  disciples  ritually  by  baptism,  by  the  agency 
of  his  Apostles.  After  our  Lord's  death,  his  followers  were 
called  by  their  enemies.  Men  '*  of  that  way" — "  Nazarenes" 
— "  Heretics  ;"  but  they  called  themselves  Christians.  They 
added  moreover,  when  addressing  each  other,  the  appellations 
of  Brother  or  Sister  in  the  Lord,  with  the  titles,  the  called,  the 
elect,  the  illuTninated,  holy  persons  or  saints,  faithful,  Sic. 
These  were  regidfirly  given  to  church-members  only.     None 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  97 

without  the  church  ever  received  one  of  these  appellations. 
They  were  given  at  or  immediately  on  Baptism,  and  Baptism 
was  initiatory  to  those  appellations.  The  newly -baptized 
were  called  new  plants. 

Whoever  was  baptized  was  a  member  of  the  church  of 
Christ :  and  as  baptism  was  the  onli/  way  of  admission  into 
the  church,  it  follows  that  whoever  was  a  member  of  the 
church  of  Christ  had  been  baptized.  The  terms  are  inter- 
changeable. If  then  it  be  shown  that  any  one  of  these 
Christian  appellations  is  bestowed  on  children,  that  children 
are  designated  by  any  one  of  these  titles,  the  church-mem- 
bership of  children  is  the  imdeniable  consequence  ;  and  with 
their  church-membership  their  Baptism. 

The  Appellation  Holy  ascribed  to  Children. — HOLY 
persons  is  an  appellation  given  to  church-members.  So 
Paul  confessed,  that  "  many  of  the  holy  persons  he  had  shut 
up  in  prison,"  Acts  xxvi.  10,  tw»'  dyicov  :  though  afterwards  we 
find  him  speaking  repeatedly  in  the  most  respectful  manner 
of  them  ;  "  I  go  to  Jerusalem  to  minister  to  the  holy  persons,'" 
Rom.  XV.  25,  roig  uyioig.  He  also  writes  on  various  occa- 
sions to  them  "  who  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  the 
called,  to  the  holy  persons" — "  To  the  holt/  persons  at  Ephe- 
sus" — "  To  the  holy  persons  at  Colosse" — "  To  all  the  holy 
persons  in  Christ  Jesus  at  Phillippi."  This  is  a  title  given 
in  a  multitude  of  places  to  members  of  the  Christian  Church 
ONLY.  But  this  appellation  is  also  given  to  children  of  a 
church-member  — "  Now  are  your  children  holy,"  1  Cor.  vii. 
14  ;  ayttc.  The  lowest  sense  that  can  possibly  be  put  on  this 
term  in  this  passage,  even  by  a  writeY  against  Infant  Baptism, 
is  that  of  Tertullian,  who  says  they  are  holy,  because  design- 
ed for  holiness  in  baptism.  Even  in  that  ancient  adversary's 
opinion,  their  ritual  holiness  was  complete  at  baptism ;  for 
which  he  assigns  two  reasons  :  Seminis  prerogativd,  the  priv- 
ilege of  descent  from  a  church-member  ;  and  Institutionis 
disciplimi,  the  course  of  education  which  such  a  child  would 
naturally  receive  from  its  parent.  He  implies,  that  the  heathen 
dedicated  their  children  to  their  idols  before  they  were  born. 
But  the  fact  is  indisputable,  that  the  appellative  Holy  is  not 
bestowed  in  the  New  Testament  on  any  person  not  a  member 
of  the  church  of  Christ ! 

The  following  examples  prove  that  the  term  "Holy,"  was 
appropriated  to  children. 

"  Maurentius  son  of  Maurentia,  a  most  pleasing  child,  who 

9 


98  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

liA'ed  five  years,  eleven  months  and  two  days  ;  worthy  to  re- 
pose in  peace  among  the  Holy  persons."* 

"  Sacred  to  the  great  God.  Leopardus  rests  here  in  peace 
with  Holy  spirits.  Having  received  Baptism  he  went  to  the 
blessed  innocents.  This  was  placed  by  his  parents,  with 
whom  he  lived  seven  years  and  seven  months. "f  Fabretti 
refers  this  expressly  to  Baptism. 

"  To  the  honourable  memory  of  Innocentius  Amantius.  who 
lived  eight  years  and  six  days ;  he  reposes  in  the  bosom  of 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  in  the  peace  of  the  I^ord  .Tesus 
Christ."!  From  the  phraseology  it  is  probable  that  the  child 
was  of  Hebrew  parentage. 

"  The  most  innocent  Cervonia  Silvana,  gone  to  enjoyment 
with  Holy  Spirits,"  A.  D.  291.^ 

"  Julia  reposes  in  peace  among  the  Holy  persons."|(  The 
terms  "  in  peace  and  Ao/y"  prove  that  she  was  a  member  of 
the  Christian  church.  Consequently  it  was  the  appellation 
given  to  the  disciples  among  both  the  Greeks  and  the  Latins. 

The  Appellat/on  Faithful  applied  to  Children. — 
In  connection  with  the  appellation  holy  given  to  church-mem- 
bers, we  find  the  appellation  faithful  ;  and   this  was  more 


•  Maurentius  Maarentiae 

F.  D.  qui  vixit  Annis  V.  Menses 

XI.     Dies  Duo.  Digna  inter 

Sanctos  Deu3  jussit  in  Pace. 

t  D  Ma  Sacrum.  XL. 

Leopardum  in  Pacem 

cum  Spirita  Sancia.     Accep 

turn  eunte  abeatis  innocinem  3 

Po9uer.  Par.  q.  Ann.  VII.  Men.  VII. 

t  Bone  Memorie 

Innocent!  Amantio 

qui  vixit  Annos 

VIII.     Dies  Sex 

Quiescenti  in 

Sinus  Abrahae 

Isaac  et  Jacob 

in  pace  XTI  DMNI 

PS.  VIII.  KAL.  IAN. 

Muratori,  7.  Calari  in  Caemetrio.     Bonfanto. 

5  Innocentissima  Cervonia  Silvana 
Refrigera  cum  Spiritu  Sancto. 

II  EL.YAIA  EN  EIPHNH 
META  Ta.N  AriwN. 


SUBJECTS   OF  BAPTISM.  99 

extensively  and  more  permanently  used  in  the  church,  as  the 
distinguishing  title  of  church-members  in  Scripture. 

It  ts  applied   to  individuals,   in  the   singular:— To  Timo- 
thy, to  Tychicus,  to  Onesimus,  to  Silvanus,  and  probably  to 
others.      I  Cor.  iv.  17  ;  Eph.  iv.  21  ;  Col.  iv.  9 ;  1  Pet.  v.  12. 
The  mother  of  Timothy,  is  called  a  faithful.     Acts  xvi, 
1  ;    mair^g. 

What  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  ?  what  part  hath  a 
FAITHFUL  with  a.  non-faichful  ?  2Cor,  vi.  15.  If  any  faith- 
ful man  or  faithful  woman,  niqog  ^  711517,  have  widows  ;  let 
such  relieve  them,  that  the  Church  be  not  charged ;  1  Timothy 
V.  16. 

It  is  also  applied  in  the  plural ;— They  of  the  circumcision, 
''  FAITHFULS,  nigToi,'"  who  came  with  Peter,  were  astonished. 
Acts  X.  45.  These  are  called  brethren.  Acts.  ix.  23  ;  Acts 
xi.  12. 

Those  servants  who  have  masters  that  are  faithfuls, 
nigovg  ;  despise  them  not ;  1  Timothy  vi.  2  ;  because  they 
are  brethren. 

Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth  ;  but  be  thou  an  example  to 
the  faithfuls;  1  Tim.  iv.  12. 

The  things  thou  hast  heard  from  me  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  2  ;  com- 
mit thou  to  faithfuls,  men. 

He  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of  kings,  and  they  who  are 
with  him  are  called,  and  chosen,  and  faithfuls  ;  Revelation 
xvii.  14. 

It  is  also  addressed  to  Churches,  as  communities  : — Paul 
to  the  holy  persons  who  are  at  Ephesus,  and  to  the  faithfuls, 
■mqoig  ;  in  Christ  Jesus  ;   Eph.  i.  1. 

Paul  to  the  holy  persons  in  Colosse,  and  to  the  faithfuls, 
Tiiqot;  ;  to  the  brethren  in  Christ ;   Col.  i.  2. 

A  remarkable  instance  is  that  of  Lydia,  in  her  address  to 
the  Apostle  —  "  When  she  was  baptized,  with  her  family,  she 
besought  us,  saying.  Since  you  have  adjudged  me  to  be  a 
faithful,  Ttngj^i- ;  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  come  into^  my  house, 
and  abide."  Acts  xvi.  15.  Here  the  appellation yizi^A/'M/ is 
so  strongly  connected  with  the  term  baptism,  as  to  be  even 
interchangeable  with  it ;  for  the  sense  would  be  the  same,  if 
the  term  baptized  were  submitted  {or  faithful,  and  faithful  for 
baptized.     It  amounts  to  an  identity. 

The  title  faithful  was  a  current  designation  of  members  of 
the  Christian  church.  To  call  a  man  a  faithful  was  equiva- 
lent to  calling  him  a  Christian  brother,  or  a  disciple  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  by  any  other  appellation  denoting  his  relation  to 


100  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

Christ  and  the  church.  Is  this  appellation  faithful  applied 
to  children  ?  Certainly  it  is  :  and  in  the  sense  of  a  whole 
family.  For  so  writes  the  Apostle,  Titus  i.  6;  describing 
the  character  of  a  bishop — "  he  must   be  the  husband  of  one 

wife,   HAVING   CHILDREN   WHO   ARE  FAITHFULS." 

This  passage  is  decisive.  Of  the  two  terms,  we  have  ex- 
amined FAITHFULS.  The  Other,  children,  in  Greek  tekna,  on 
the  authority  of  Baptist  writers  themselves,  expresses 
"  MINORS yVowj  twenty  days  old  to  twenty  years."  The  pas- 
sage then  stands  thus  in  sense  ;  "  having  children,  minors 
from  twenty  days  old  to  twenty  years,  who  are  church-memhers."'' 
But  the  Apostle  speaks  of  children.  He  does  not  say,  "  those 
of  full  age  ;"  —  Nor  does  he  say,  "  excepting  the  younger  ;" — 
but  the  Bishop's  "  children"  of  any  age  must  be  faithfuls, 
church-members. 

This  was  a  proper  place  to  have  stated  exceptions,  if  such 
existed  in  the  Apostle's  mind  or  practice  :  for  he  was  not 
giving  instructions  to  Titus  only,  but  to  all  the  Christian 
world.  Error  there  was  error  in  perpetuity.  Nor  does  the 
Apostle  formally  introduce  or  treat  the  subject :  he  mentions 
it  as  an  expected  thing,  without  emphasis  or  explanation.  It 
was  therefore  no  novelty.  The  baptism  of  their  children  — 
their  Church-membership — is  here  charged  on  the  Minis- 
ters as  a  duty  ;  and  the  omission  is  a  marked  disqualification 
for  ecclesiastical  office. 

Some  inconsiderate  mind  may  insist — "  those  children 
must  be  adults  ;  for  they  are  supposed  to  be  accusable  of  riot 
and  unruliness."  But  in  that  case,  the  official  character  of 
the  parent  is  made  to  depend  on  the  established  character  of 
his  children  ;  and  this  publicly  known  and  notorious,  before 
their  father  can  enter  on  his  office.  Supposing  then  his  chil- 
dren to  be  born,  when  he  is  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and 
their  characters  to  be  civilly  and  ecclesiastically  fixed  at  the 
same  time  of  life — their  father  must  be  sixty  years  old  before 
he  can  possess  this  qualification  for  a  bishop.  What  service 
could  churches  expect  from  their  Bishops,  every  one  aged 
sixty  at  his  entrance  on  office  ?  Is  this  consistent  with  the 
other  facts  ? 

The  parallel  passage  in  Timothy  plainly  expresses  the 
bishop's  having  a  family  of  young  children.  The  injunction 
applies  to  all  bishops. 

But  suppose  the  bishops  had  daughters  only,  they  may  be 
relieved  from  this  imputation  of  being  riotous  and  unruly  : 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  101 

yet  these  must  be  made  faithfuls  ;  for  the  term  children  in- 
chides  both  sexes. 

Moreoi'er,  a  bishop  might  have  no  children.  Were  not 
Timothy's  qualifications  for  the  episcopal  office  sufficient, 
without  wailing  till  he  became  a  husband  and  a  father,  and 
till  the  character  of  his  children  should  be  pronounced  by  the 
church  and  the  world  ? 

The  Baptists  would  be  bound  by  their  own  argument  to 
admit  only  old  men,  married  men  and  fathers,  into  the  ministry. 
The  argument  goes  to  prove  that  all  ministers,  all  Baptist 
ministers,  havin<r  children  who  are  not  baptized,  in  PauVs  opin- 
ion, are  unjit  for  their  ojjice.  They  are  not  "  ensamples  to 
the  flock." 

These  consequences  follow  this  interpretation  of  the  pas- 
sage. Here  then  I  make  my  stand — not  on  unrecorded  tra- 
dition, not  on  the  universal  practice  of  the  churches,  not  on 
the  positive  affirmation  of  Origen  and  others,  who  plead 
Apostolic  injunction  for  the  baptism  of  children  —  but  on 
Scripture.  The  language  of  the  Aposlle  is  explicit  and 
could  not  possibly  mislead  those  who  consulted  his  writings. 

The  Apostle  Paul  speaks  of  children  as  being  church-mem- 
bers under  the  terms  holy  and  faithfuls.  The  Apostle 
John  writes  distinctly  to  little  children.  The  inference 
is  all  tliat  can  be  desired.  Here  then  I  stand  on  the  rock 
of  Scripture  ;  and  Scripture  is  consistent  with  itself;  for  the 
Evangelists  applied  to  children  the  terms  believer  a.nA  disciple. 

Though  the  Apostolic  tesiimoiiy  is  explicit  and  satisfactory, 
yet  it  may  be  gratifying  to  know  whether  Scripture  has  re- 
corded any  instances  of  conformity  with  this  injunction. 
That  inquiry  must  be  answered  in  the  affirmative ;  as  is 
evinced  by  three  instances  of  conformity  by  christian 

TEACHERS   TO   THE   APOSTLe's   INJUNCTION. 

"  Greet  Pi^scilla  and  Aquila,  and  the  church  in  i\\e\x fami- 
ly ;"  Rom.  xvi.  3.  5.  This  is  the  sense  given  to  the  word 
house,  in  this  place,  by  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  and  Theo- 
phylact,  who  say  literally,  "  their  family  was  ALL  made 
faithfuls;  and  such  whole  families  the  Apostle  calls  a 
church."*  The  same  persons  are  mentioned,  1  Cor.  xvi.  19  ; 
"  Aquila  and  Priscilla  salute  you  much  in  the  Lord,  with  the 


*  wr£  Tov  oiKov  avrcov  -ravTa;  itirov;  noiriaat,  rovrovi  xai  CKKXrioriav  ovojiaatv — 
tov  oiKnv  navra  -Kirovi  ji^evj  <^re  xai  cKK^naiav  KoKuaQai — They  Converted 
their  whole  families  to  the  Christian  profession  ;  for  such  families  he 
calls  a  church. 

9* 


102  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

church  in  their  house,  family."  All  the  Greek  scholiasts  and 
Grotius  say,  that  "  this  signifies  a  family  consisting  wholly 
of  Christian  converts,  as  was  the  Jailor's,  Acts  xvi.  31,  32  ; 
and  that  of  Crispus,  Acts  xviii.  8.  "  Salute  Nymphas  and  the 
church  in  his  house;"  Colossians  iv.  15.  "House"  means 
"  Family,"  as  is  afhrmed  by  Theodoret,  Oecumenius,  Chry- 
sostom,  and  Theophylact.  "  He  had  made  his  whole  family 
Christians,  so  as  to  be  called  a  Church" — Literally  —  "  He 
had  made  his  whole  family  Faithfuls,  so  as  to  be  called  a 
Church."*  "  Paul  to  Philemon,  and  to  the  church  in  thy 
house  ,"  Philemon  2.  "  To  the  church  in  ihy  family  ;"  says 
Theodoret,  for  his  "  family"  was  "  illustrious  for  the  piety  of 
all  its  members." 

The  following  inscriptions  will  illustrate  the  opinions  and 
practice  of  the  ancient  Christians. 

Cyriacus  a  Faithful  died  aged  eight  days,  less  than  tliree 
years. t 

Eustafia  the  mother  places  this  in  commemoration  of  her 
son  Polichronio  a  Faithful  who  lived  tlifee  years.J 

Urcia  Florentina  a  Faithful  rests  here  in  peace.  She  lived 
five  years,  eight  months,  and  eight  days.^ 

The  sepulchre  of  the  twin  brothers  Alcinous  and  of  Alex- 
ander their  cousin,  three  Faithfuls,  of  twelve  years  old,  erected 
by  their  mother  Proemissa.     With  tliree  Fishes. || 

The  three  fishes  form  another  justification  of  the  literal 
language  of  Clemens.  On  this  term,  Muratori  De  Resur.  thus 
annotates — "  Fish :  by  this  name  the  most  ancient  Christians 
were  accustomed  to  express  Christ  the  Lord,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  Augustin,  Prosper,  Optatus,  Milevitanus,  and 
others.  This  was  also  the  symbol  during  the  reigns  of  the 
Heathen  Emperors,  under   which  the  Christians   concealed 

•  "  Nam  ubi  Apostolus  ad  Collossenses  scribens,  cap.  iv.  15;  ail — 
"  Salutale  Fratres  qui  sunt  Laoclicese  et  Nynipham,  et  quam  in  domo 
ejus  est  Ecclesiani,"  subdit  de  liac  sanctissimi  exempli  muliere;  tam 
enim  devoia  videtur  fuisse,  ut  omnis  domus  ejus  signo  litulata  asset 
Crucis,  hoc  est  in  Ecclesiam  conversa." — Ambrose. 

t  Cyriacus  Fidclis  decessit  octo  dies  minus  tres  annus,  iii.  Kal.  Mar. 
— Boldetti  ;  Muratori. 

t  B.  M.  In  commemoratione  Eustafia  Mater  Filio  Polichronio.  Fid. 
qui  vixit  annis  iii.  Grater  No  8. 

§  Urcia  Florentina  Fidclis  in  pace  Vix.  An.  v.  Mens.  viii.  Dies.  viii. 
— Muratori. 

II  Geminorum  Alcinoorum  Sepulchrum,  Alexandrique  Consangui- 
neorum,  Tres  Duodennes.     Mater  Proemisi,  Pisciis  iii. 

ICGYC,  id  est  Piscis,  uti  perquam  notum,  literis  suis  indicat  nomen 
Jcsu  Christi  Dei  Filii  Salvatoris. — Muratori,  No.  6. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  103 

their  profession  ;  but  their  brethren  very  well  knew  what  it 
signified."  Tertullian  says,  "  We  little  fishes  according  to 
the  example  of  our  fish,  icthon,  Jesus  Christ,  are  born  in 
water ;  neither  are  we  safe  any  longer  than  while  we  remain 
in  water. — One  kind  of  flesh  of  birds,  martyrs  who  soared  to 
heaven  in  suflerings  ;  another  kind  of  Fishes,  those  who 
received  only  Baptism." 

One  Inscription  will  prove  that  the  term  Faithful  was 
continued  and  applied  to  children  during  several  centuries. — 
"  Here  lies  Maria  daughter  of  John,  who  was  of  the  town  of 
Nicerata,  sbe  lived  three  years,  three  months  and  a  half,  a 
Faithful.  She  died  the  fourth  day  of  the  month  Xanticus  ; 
under  the  consulate  of  the  Princes  Honorius,  xi.  and  Con- 
stantius,  ii."* 

The  term  Faithful  continued  to  denote  church  members, 
from  the  days  of  the  Apostles. — "  It  is  not  enough  for  the 
true  character  of  Christians,  that  they  be  pure,  but  also  that 
their  works  are  conspicuous  ;  that  they  are  clear  from  every 
censure  by  others  ;  that  they  are  of  consummate  chastity 
excluding  all  cause  of  suspicion  ;  that  they  are  not  only 
Faithfuls,  but  also  evidently,  worthy  Faithfuls ;"  not  only 
church  members,  but  honourable  in  that  station. f 

Eusebius  more  formally  says — "  There  are  three  descrip- 
tions of  members  in  the  church — one  who  guide,  and  two 
who  are  guided.  The  people  of  the  Christian  church  are 
divided  into  Faithfuls  ;  and  those  who  have  not  been  admit- 
ted by  the  "  laver  of  regeneration." 

The  interpretation  of  the  terra  House  "  in  the  sense  of 
Family  was  universal  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
churches  ;  and  thus  these  three  families  of  Christian  teachers 
must  be  added  to  those  previously  adduced.  How  then  can 
any  say — "  We  have  neither  example  nor  precept  for  baptising 
children  in  all  ages  ?" — The  Apostle's  injunction  has  the  force 
of  a  precept  :  and  so  great  a  number  of  Christian  families  ex- 
emplifies the  practice  to  demonstration  :  for  there  is  no  excep- 

*  Heic  jacet  Maria  filia  Johannis  cui  Niceratum  vixit  Annos  tres, 
Menses  tres  et  semis,  Fidelis,  Defuncta  est  Mensis  Xantici  Die  iv. 
Sub  consulalu  Honorii  Aiif^usti  xi.  et  Constantii  ii. 

Niceratum,  Vicus  ingens,  apud  Apameam  Syriae  situs  ;  called  by 
Theodoret,  Nicerie. — Muraiori. 

+  Non  sulum  enim  temperaniibus  satis  est,  ut  sintpuri.sed  etiam 
adhibenda  est  opera,  ut  sint  ab  omni  reprehensione  Alieni,  ut  sit 
consummata  caslitas,  omni  exclusa  suspirionis  causa  ;  ut  non  simus 
solum  Fideles,  sed  etiam  videamur  fide  digni — w?  /oj  jiovov  ttvai  rinas 
nirovi  aWa  a^ioTrtrovs  ipavtivai, — Clem.  Alex.  Pssdag.  Lib.  ill.  Cap.  ii. 


104  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

lion,  no  reserve,  and  no  restriction  marked  in  any  passage  of 
Scripture  connected  with  baptism.  Nothing  therefore  is 
desired  Irom  any  society  of  Christians,  but  that  tkey  follow 
the  Apostolic  example  and  baptize  whole  familu'S ! 

Application  OF  the  term  NEOPHYTOS  ;  Newly  plant- 
ed ;  to  children. — A  third  appeliuliou  is  strongly  identified 
with  Baptism  by  the  Baptists  themselves.  "  They  are  planted, 
say  they,  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  being  buried  with  him 
by  baptism."  The  Apostles  charged  Timothy  that  a  person 
newly  planted,  newly  baptized,  shall  not  bear  office  in  the 
church.  Our  translation  of  1  Timothy  iii.  6  ;  says,  "  not  a 
novice,^'' — the  original  is  this — "  not  a  Neophytes  ;"  a  new  plant. 

I  select  a  few  examples  from  the  ancient  existing  me- 
morials. 

Rufiilo,  newly  baptized,  who  lived  two  years  and  forty  days. 
Quintillian  the  father  places  this  to  the  memory  of  his  son 
who  sleeps  in  the  peace  of  Christ."* 

To  Doniitius,  an  innocent,  newly  baptized,  who  lived  three 
years  and  tliirty  days.f 

Valerius  Decentius  the  father  places  this  to  his  son,  newly 
baptized,  who  lived  three  years,  ten  months  and  fifteen  days.| 

To  Pisentus,  an  innocent  soul  who  lived  one  year,  eight 
months  and  thirteen  daj's.  Nkwlv-baptized  :  buried  on 
the  ides  of  September  in  peace. ^ 

To  Jovius  son  of  Callistus,  who  lived  six  years,  ten  months, 
and  nineteen  days.     Newlv-baptized,  he  died  in  peace. || 

To  Leoni,  newly-baptized,  who  lived  six  years,  eight 


*  Rufiilo  Neafito  qui  vixit  An.  ii.  D.  xl.  Cluintillianus  Pater  filio 
dulcissimo  in  pace  XPI — Ariinghius,  Lib.  iv. 

t  Domitio  In nocer.li  Nerifito  qui  vixil  An.  iii.  Dies  xxx.  Dep.  viii. 
Kal.  Junias.— Fabrelli  No.  3«. 

t  Valeri  Decenlius  Pater  fiHo  suo  NrfUo  bene  Merenti  Valerio 
Vi;aliano  qui  vivit  xc.  cum  parentibus  suis  Anno.s  N.  iii.  at  Menses 
X.  et  dies  N.  xv.  Iiahanete  in  pace.— Muratori. 

§  Pisenti  Anima  in 

nox  q.  yixit.  Ann.  I. 

M.  Vir.  D.  XIII.  Nkofit. 

Dep  Idibus  Sept.  in  Pace. 

Muratori. 

II  Jovio  Filio  Callisius  qui  vixit  Annis 

xesei  Menses  Dpcem.  el  dies  Dece.  et 

Novem.  NOF.  in  pace  morenti. 

Fortasse  Callistus.     Nihil  est  xesei  nisi  SeX.     Nor.  creditur  pro 

Neophy  TO. — M  u  ratori. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  105 

months,  and  eleven  days.  He  reposed  the  sixth  of  the  nones 
of  July,  Phillippus  and  Sallia  being  Consuls.* 

To  Aristus,  who  lived  eight  months  :  newly-baptized,  he 
went  ojft*  the  first  of  ihe  nones  of  June  :  Timasius  and  Pro- 
motorus  being  Consuls. t 

To  the  memory  of  Libera,  who  rests  in  peace.  She  lived 
eight  years:  newly  baptized.  She  was  buried  the  third  of 
the  nones  of  May  :    Gratianus  and  Equitius  being  Consuls. |: 

Flavia  Jovina  who  lived  three  years  and  thirty-two  days : 
newly-baptized  ;  deposited  in  peace,  the  eleventh  of  the 
calends  of  October,  A.  D.  367. § 

B.  M.  to  Silvinus,  newly-baptized  ;  who  lived  on  earth 
eleven  years,  five  months,  and  ten  days.  Virilianus  and  Lam- 
padius  have  placed  this  to  the  memory  of  their  scholar. || 

The  following  refers  to  a  catechumen  who  was  not  a,  faith- 
ful— "  Here  rests  in  peace  Onesima,  a  Catechumen,  aged  four 
years,  five  months  and  three  davs."TJ 

Here  repose  two  brothers.  Innocents  :  Constantine,  newly- 
baptized  ;  who  lived  eight  years,  two  months  and  six  days  : 
was  buried  the  third  of  the  ides  of  November,  our  lords  the 
princes  Arcadius  and  Honorius  being  Consuls.     Also,  Justus, 


*  Leoni  Neofito  qui  vixit  Ann.  "VI. 

Mens  VIII.  Dies  XI.     Requies— 

VI.  Non.  Jul.  Pillippo  et  Sallia  Conss. 

A.  D.  348.— Bosio. 

t  Aristo  Puer  Innox.  qui 

vixit  Menses  Octo  Neo- 
FiTus  Kecessit  Pridie  Nonas 
Junias  Timasio  et  Promotor. 

CC.  Conss.     A.  D.  389. 
Gruter,  CDLXII.  1.  Ex  Passionei 

Append.  Muratori  Supp. 

t  Benemerenti 

in  pace  Libera 

que  bixit  Ann.  s-II. 

Neofita.  Dep.  Die  ■ 

III   Nonas.  Mais.  Con. 

Gratiano  III  ct  Equitio. 

§  FI.  Jovina  quae  vixit  Annis  tribns  D.  xxxii.  Depos.  Neofitam 
Pace,  xi.  Kal.  Octob.  A.  D.  367.— Boldetti.  Gruter. 

II  B.  M.  Silvino.  Neofito.  Qui  vi.Kit  in  Seculo.  Ann.  xi.  Mens.  v. 
Dies.  x.  Virilianus  et  Lampadius  Alumno  suo  Innocent!  Memoriam 
posuerunt.— Gruter,  No.  3.     Ex  Apiano  et  Alciati. 

tr  B.  A.  9..  M.  Quievit  Onesime  Catechumena,  in  Pace,  vii.  Kal. 
Julias,  Annorum  iv.     Mensiura  v.  Dierum  iii. 


106  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

a  FAITHFUL,  who  livcfl  seven  years.*  This  Justus  is  called 
Vi  faithful,  because  in  his  earliest  infancy  he  had  been  bapti- 
zed ;  but  Constantine  is  called  a  neophytos,  because  he  had 
been  recently  baptized. 

This  inscription  scorns  to  prove  that  the  same  family  was 
not  always  strictly  uniform  in  observing  the  rite. 

To  Romanus,  newly-baptized,  who  lived  eight  years  and 
fifteen  days.  He  reposes  in  peace.  Flavius  Gratinniis  being 
a  second  time  Consul,  and  Petroiiius  Probus,  Consul  also.f 

Pascasius  lived  six  years,  and  received  baptism  on  the 
eleventh  of  the  calends  of  May.  He  took  his  white  robe 
with  him  to  the  sepulchre. |  The  dates  give  for  the  birth  of 
Pascasius,  A.  D.  457,  and  for  his  death,  A.  D.  463. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Christian  children  died  in  in- 
fancy, whose  graves  were  not  marked  by  a  single  inscription, 
and  of  those  which  were  so  marked  not  one  in  a  thousand  is 
come  down  to  us.  The  evidences  of  this  kind  which  exist 
in  Eastern  countries  under  Mohammedan  government  are  in- 
accessible to  us.  These  few  inscriptions  however  contain 
most  of  the  terms  by  which  Baptism  is  signified  in  the  New 
Testament ;  all  which  terms  are  applied  to  children. 

The  Apostle  wrote  to  the  Hebrews,  x.  32,  that  "  after  they 
were  illuminated  they  endured  great  afflictions."  Commen- 
tators, by  illuminated,  understand  baptized.     Accordingly  the 


*  B.    A.  6J.    M. 

Hie  .  requiescunt .  duo  .  fratres. 
»  Innocentes  .  Constantius  .  NEOFITUS. 

qui.  vixit .     Annis.  Octo  .  M  II. 

D  .  VI.     Depositus  III.     Idus  .  Novemb. 

Cons  .  D  .  D  .  N  .  N  .     Arcadi  .  et .  Honor. 

Augg  .  Justus  .  FIDELIS  .  qui  .  vixit. 

Annis  VII.     A.  D,  394. 

Boldetti  refers  to  Hieronym.  Aleand.  in  Symb.  Navis  Eccl. — Jiistum 
hunc  ideo,  Fidei.em  appellat,  quia  in  prima  infanti  Sacro  fonte  ablutus 
fuerat  :  Constantiniim  vero  Neophitum  nominat,  quod  recens  baptiza- 
tus  esset.     Gruter  Ex  Apiano  et  Velserianis. 

+  Romano  Neofito 

Bene  merenii  qui  vixit 

Annos  VIII.  D.  XV. 

Requiesit  in  Face.    JD  N. 

Fl.  Gratiano.     Aug.  II.  et 

Petronio  Probo  C.  S.     A.  D.  371. 

t  Natu  Severi  nomine  Pascasius,  dies  Pascales  Prid.  non,  April  N 
die  Jobis  FL  Constantino  et  Rufo  V  V  CC  CONSS.  qui  vixit  Annorum 
VI.  Percepit  XL  kal.  Maias  et  albas  suas  Oclabas  Pascae  ad  Sepul- 
crum  deposuit  D.  IIII.  Kal.  Mai.  FL.  Basilio.  V.  C  CO.— Fabretti. 


SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM.  107 

inscriptions  describe  Achillia  as  neo-photistos,  "  newly  illumi- 
nated," meaning  newly  baptized.  This  illumination  could  be 
ritual  only  to  a  child  of  seventeen  months.  They  describe 
Refrigerius,*  a  neophyte,  as  Ana-bio,  "  receiving  a  new  life," 
in  baptism.  The  baptized  were  called  ixvu^naaig,  says  Arrin- 
ghius,  vera  e  mortuis  operibus  carnis  et  infidelitale  reviviscen- 
tia ;  because  they  were  called  to  quit  the  dead  works  of  the 
flesh  and  of  unbelief,  to  live  a  new  life  to  the  glory  of  God. 
This  is  applied  to  a  child  ! 

Whence  could  originate  the  custom  of  applying  these  terms 
"holy"  and  "faithful."  to  children?  What  could  in- 
duce parents  so  to  describe  them  ?  That  parental  aftection 
should  mark  infants  as  innocents,  not  guilty  of  actual  trans- 
gression is  easily  conceivable  ;  but  who  could  first  think  of 
calling  infants  holy,  an  appellation  proper  to  church  members 
only  ?  Do  Ave  call  our  children  saints  ?  Who  could  think 
of  denominating  m{a.nts  faithful  ?  in  what  had  their  faith  been 
tried  ?  in  what  had  it  triumphed  ?  These  are  not  difficulties 
to  a  Poedobaptist.  Those  terms  are  used  in  Scripture  and 
therein  are  applied  to  children.  He  traces  them  from  Scrip- 
ture, with  the  history  of  the  Church,  through  Apostolic  men, 
to  the  fourth  century — or  if  the  order  be  more  desirable,  they 
can  be  traced  from  the  fourth  century  up  through  Apostolic 
men  to  Scripture.  Hence,  they  originate  and  terminate  in 
Scripture.  They  rest  on  the  authority  of  the  Apostle  Paul ; 
or  rather  on  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  by 
him.  If  that  sacred  writer  had  "  the  mind  of  Christ ;"  and  if  he 
spake,  and  wrote,  and  practised,  according  to  the  intention  of 
the  only  authoritative  and  infallible  Legislator  to  the  Church 
of  God ;  then  we  may  safely  rest  in  his  application  of  the 
terms  "  Holy"  and  "  Faithful  ;"  which  he  applies  to  Chil- 
dren, Newly  Baptized,  Newly  Planted,  and  in  which,  he 
was  followed  by  the  whole  Christian  Church. 

I  close  these  researches  upon  the  subjects  of  Christian 
Baptism  with  two  inferences. 

1 .  The  Christian  Churches  in  the  North,  in  the  South,  in 
the  East,  and  in  the  West  never  did  refuse  Baptism  to 
Infants.  Are  the  Baptists  then  wiser  than  all  the  world  ? 
than  all  the  "  Faithful  Aleft"  of  Apostolic   ages,  and  than  all 


•  In  Mire  Exempli  Innocentige  Ac  Neofito  Anabio  Satrio  Refrigerio 
qui  vixit  Annis  X.  Dies  XLVI.  Publius  Cornelius  Zetos  et  Satria 
Dignitas  Parentes  in  pace  B.  M.  Fecerunt. — Reinesius  Inscriptionum 
Antiquorum,  No.  17'2. 


108  SUBJECTS  OF  BAPTISM. 

their  contemporaries  ?  Is  it  likely  that  they  alone,  of  all  the 
millions  of  Christians  of  every  period  and  nation,  in  spite  of 
these  "  Facts  and  Evidences,"  should  be  the  only  persons 
who  have  elicited  Scriptural  truth  ? 

2.  In  all  Christian  Churches,  Baptism  is  a  consecration  to 
the  Trinity  !  Not  one  uses  any  form  of  words — the  Baptists 
themselves  do  not  use  any  form  of  words,  in  the  administration 
of  Baptism,  allusive  to  the  burial  of  the  person  baptized,  as 
they  say  Christ  was  buried.  Had  our  Lord  intended  any 
such  allusion,  he  would  have  said  so.  They  have  taken  a 
secondary  sense  referring  by  allusion  only,  not  by  direct  pur- 
pose, as  the  primary  and  peculiar  intention  of  the  rite.  This 
is  neither  wisdom,  nor  grace,  nor  orthodoxy,  which  would  put 
the  principal  things  of  religion  in  the  priijpipal  place.  I  ad- 
here to  the  initiatory  words  of  Christ  as  the  best  and  greatest 
authority  on  the  subject ;  for  it  is  very  extraordinary  that  in 
a  religion  having  but  two  rites,  they  should  both  point  at  the 
same  thing.  The  death  of  the  Saviour  is  clearly  the  primary 
and  direct  purport  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Is  it  likely  or  cred- 
ible, that  the  primary  and  direct  purport  of  Baptism  should 
also  be  the  death  of  the  Saviour  ?  But  if  in  the  initiatory 
rite  there  be  a  commemoration  of  the  interposing  Deity,  and 
in  the  Lord's  Supper  a  commemoration  of  the  interposing 
Humanity  —  \i  for  this  reason,  consecration  to  the  Deity  is 
sufficient  by  one  act  and  ought  not  to  be  repeated — while  de- 
votedness  to  Jesus,  as  Lord  of  all,  is  frequently  renewed  and 
to  be  repeated  continually — then  there  is  between  the  two 
rites  that  distinction  which  was  evidently  intended  ;  and 
which  it  well  becomes  all  professors  of  our  common  faith  to 
retain  to  the  latest  generation. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM, 


Importance  of  Truth. — Perversion  of  Terms. — Banrw. — E/i/Jajrrw. — 
BaiTTiTftoi. — Synonymous  Words. — Baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost. — 
Meaning  of  baptism. — Correspondino  terms  in  different  languages. 
— Inferences. —  Overwhelming.  —  Submersion. — Immersion. — Bap- 
tism in  the  sense  of  Overwhelm. — Staining. — Pouring  or  Aff'usion. — 
Sprinkling.— Washing.— "  Doctrine  of  Baptisms."— Anabaptism.— 
"  Divers  Baptisms." — John's  Baptism. — Baptism  separate  from  Im- 
mersion.— Philip  and  the  Eunuch. — Baptism  in  Abyssinia. — Meta- 
phorical Scripture. — Cornelius. — Christian  Baptism  was  Pouring. 
— Baptizing  of  persons  naked. — Deaconesses. — Enon. — YiaTaTroX)^a. 
— Hebrew  Christians. — Syrian  Church. — Greek  Church. — "  Buried 
in  Baptism." — Baptism  as  signifying  Death  and  Life. — Primitive 
Baptisteries. — Catacomb  at  Rome. — Ancient  pictorial  representa- 
tions of  Baptism. — "  Chapel  of  the  Baptistery,"  at  Rome. 

Truth  should  be  the  object  of  our  most  anxious  research ; 
and  when  recognized,  should  be  most  affectionately  and  fervent- 
ly embraced.  Religious  Truth  rises  in  consequence,  according 
to  the  importance  of  that  branch  of  the  general  system  with 
which  it  is  most  intimately  connected  :  and  what  can  be  more 
important  than  Institutions  of  Eternal  Truth,  established,  en- 
joined, perpetuated  for  the  edification  of  the  Christian  Church 
at  large  ?  Such  are  the  Gospel  Sacraments  :  two  in  number, 
simple  in  administration.  It  might  have  been  expected,  tliat 
professors  of  the  name  of  Christ,  however  varying  in  opinion 
on  certain  doctrines,  confessedly  too  profound  for  human  com- 
prehension, would  nevertheless  have  preserved  these,  in  their 
clear,  well  defined,  and  unadulterated  observance.  The  his- 
tory of  the  Church  and  the  state  of  religion  at  this  day  de- 
monstrate the  fallacy  of  such  expectations.  Yet  the  multifa- 
rious practices  of  the  various  sects,  known  by  history  or  ob- 
servation, have  rested  or  have  affected  to  rest  on  the  ground 
of  Scripture  authority  ;  and  all  appeal  to  the  "  Law  and  the 
Testimony"  in  justification  of  their  sentiments  and  proceed- 

10 


110  MODE  OF  BAPTISW. 

ings.  Amid  all  this  diversity.  Truth  is  essentially  the  same  ; 
but  is  not  seldom  lost  to  the  ingenuous  inquirer,  amid  the 
contentions  and  prejudices  of  parties.  Some  dare  not  seek 
Truth ;  and  many  dare  not  acknowledge  her  when  found. 
Some  will  not  follow  where  she  leads  ;  and  others  so  far  over- 
shoot her  unsophisticated  determinations,  that  they  do  her 
little  or  no  more  honour  than  the  veriest  dastards  :  and  if  "  an 
argument  that  proves  too  much  proves  nothing"  then  it  must 
be  confessed  that  those  who  trangress  by  excess,  though 
Truth  may  support  them  in  part — those  who  deduce  extreme 
consequences  from  argiunents  valid  to  a  certain  point  only — en- 
feeble the  very  doctrines  ihey  mean  to  support,  and  contribute 
to  render  them  objects  of  suspicion,  of  dislike  and  denial. 

Before  we  can  discuss  a  theological  subject,  we  must  clear 
away  those  perversions  in  which  industrious  ignorance  and 
criminal  presumption  involve  it.  The  prirtcipal  of  these  ori 
the  present  topic  is  the  following  jjroposition — "  Christian 
Baptism  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  an  immersion  of  the 
whole  body  in  water,  solemnly  performed  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

I  answer — the  bad  Latin  term,  Immersion,  is  a  very  conve- 
nient cover  for  a  very  delusive  proposition  ;  especially  when 
used  in  an  imlimited,  unfixed,  or  unqualified  sense.  By  way 
of  shewing  what  enormities  lurk  under  expressions  so  vague 
and  indefinite,  converted  into  technical  terms,  I  adduce  an 
instance  exactly  the  same  in  kind,  and  nothing  worse  in 
degree. 

The  Jewish  rite  of  circumcision,  to  which  Christian  baptism 
is  supposed  to  bear  some  analogy,  was  in  fact  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  manufacture;  for  the  Apostle,  Eph.  ii.  11, 
distinguishes  circumcision  into  manufactured  and  unmanufac- 
tured. No  linguist  in  the  world  can  translate  the  Greek 
original  more  accurately  into  a  bad  Latin  term ;  but  this  is 
little  less  than  high  treason  against  the  English  language, 
which  recognizes  the  terms,  "  made  by  hands"  and  "  not  made 
hy  hands"  Col.  ii.  11. 

Equally  fallacious  and  little  less  preposterous  is  the  term 
Immersion,  used  indefinitely.  A  man  is  immersed  who  stands 
on  his  toes  or  up  to  his  knees  in  water  ;  he  also  is  immersed, 
Baptists  say,  over  whose  head  the  water  flows.  If  the  term 
then  be  so  indeterminate,  it  were  chasing  an  ignis  fa  tuns  to 
follow  it,  when  facts  are  in  question  ;  it  eludes  the  test  of 
Scripture,  reason,  and  common  sense. 

Instead  therefore,  of  bewildering  ourselves  in  attempting  to 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 


Ill 


trace  the  strict  use  of  a  word  notoriously  uncertain  in  its 
application  and  import,  let  us  examine  the  thing  it  should 
represent.  Instead  of  poring  over  bad  Latin,  let  us  endeavour 
to  apply  good  English.  Translate  the  term  into  our  mother 
tongue.  To  put  under  water  the  whole  body,  is  to  plunge  it. 
— Now  mark  the  proposition  : — "  Christian  Baptism  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  plunging  the  whole  body,  in  the  name, 
&c."  This  affords  a  precise  idea,  that  may  easily  be  ex- 
amined. Does  the  original  Greek  word  baptize,  wherever  it 
occurs  in  Scripture,  denote  plunging  ? — Let  us  try  this  by 
applying  the  term  to  the  leading  passages. 

Bunju). — In  the  New  Testament  the  verb  bapto  occiurs 
thrice : — 

Luke  xvi.  24. — Send  Lazarus  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of 
his  finger  ; — that  he  may  plunge  the  tip  of  his  finger. 

John  xiii.  20. — He  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop  when  I 
have  dipped  it  ; — a  sop  when  I  have  plunged  it. 

Rev.  xix.  13. — His  name  is  called  the  Word  of  God  : — he 
was  clothed  in  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood ; — clothed  in  a 
vesture  plunged  in  blood. 

EuSanTO). — The  compound  verb  embapto  is  used  three 
times  : — 

Matthew  xxvi.  23. — He  that  dippeth  his  hand  with  me  in 
the  dish ; — he  that  plungeth  his  hand  with  me  in  the  dish. 

Mark  xiv.  20. — One  of  the  twelve  that  dippeth  with  me  in 
the  dish  ;-»-one  of  the  twelve  that  plungeth  with  me  in  the 
dish. 

John  xiii.  26. — He  it  is  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop,  when 
I  have  dipped  it ;  and  when  he  had  dipped  the  sop  ; — he  it 
is  to  wliom  I  shall  give  a  sop  when  I  have  plunged  it ;  and 
when  he  had  plunged  the  sop. 

Now,  does  language  tolerate  the  expression  "  to  plunge  the 
tip  of  a  finger  ?"  does  Christianity  tolerate  the  notion  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  "  wearing  a  garment  plunged  in  blood  ?"  does 
common  decency  tolerate  the  plungmg  of  two  hands  in  the 
same  dish,  at  the  same  time  ? 

BumiatioQ. — The  noun  baptismos  occurs  four  times  : — 

Mark  vii.  4,  8. — The  washing  of  cups  and  pots,  and  of 
brazen  vessels,  and  tables  ; — the  plunging  of  cups  and  pots, 
and  of  brazen  vessels,  and  tables. 

Heb.  vi.  2.— The  fovmdation  of  the  doctrine  of  baptisms  ; 
— doctrine  of  plungings. 

Heb.  ix.  10. — Services,  in  meats  and  drinks,  and  divers 
washings  /  —  divers  plungings. 


113  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

These  passages  imply  very  different  modes  of  performing 
that  action  which  the  sacred  writer  calls  baptism  ;  and  their 
order  is  favourable  to  the  eliciting  of  conclusive  evidence 
from  their  connection  and  tenor. 

Whoever  has  seen  cups  and  pots  washed  at  a  pump,  may 
judge  whether  they  were  necessarily  plunged.  Whoever 
considers  what  cumbersome  pieces  of  furniture  these  tables 
were — -fifteen  or  twenty  feet  long,  by/owr  feet  broad,  and  about 
four  feet  high — may  judge  whether  they  were  plunged,  after 
every  meal  taken  upon  them.  Why  does  the  sacred  writer 
describe  the  doctrine  of  baptisms,  in  the  plural,  as  one  of  the 
foundations  of  Christianity,  if  there  were  only  one  mode  of 
baptism,  that  by  plunging  ?  The  same  writer  says  expressly, 
that  under  the  law  there  were  divers  kinds  of  baptisms  : — and 
from  the  law  itself,  we  know  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
them  were  not  plungings  :  the  word  therefore  cannot  possibly 
be  restricted  to  that  import. 

If  then  the  word  baptism  be  not  restricted  in  Scripture  to 
that  import,  but  is  used  in  senses  distinct  from  that  oi  plunging, 
in  reference  to  things,  let  us  examine  its  import  in  reference 
to  persons.  What  think  you  of  the  baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost? 
This  was  not  a  metaphorical  or  figurative  baptism.  It  was  a  real 
and  indisputable  subject  of  the  senses  seen  by  John  the  Bap- 
tist, by  the  Apostles,  in  company  of  the  hundred  and  twenty, 
as  is  generally  thought,  and  by  Peter  with  his  brethren,  in 
the  instance  of  Cornelius  ;  and  not  less  conspicuous  than  at 
the  Jordan.  It  was  the  subject  of  John  Baptist's  repeated  pre- 
diction ;  Mat.  iii.  1 1  ;  Mark  i.  8  ;  Luke  iii.  16  :  "He  shall 
baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  was  also  the  subject 
of  our  Lord's  repeated  prediction  ;  Luke  xxiv.  49  :  "I  send 
the  promise  of  my  Father  upon  you — ye  shall  be  endued  with 
power /rom  on  higfi."  Acts  i.  5  :  "Ye  shall  be  baptized  vsith 
the  Holy  Ghost,  not  many  days  hence." — Acts  ii.  2  :  "  And 
suddenly  there  came  from  heaven,  and  appeared  unto  them 
cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire  ;  and  it  sat  upon  each  of  them, 
and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  same 
occurred  in  the  case  of  Cornelius  :  Acts  x.  44  ;  for  Peter  says, 
"the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them,  as  on  us  at  the  beginning." 
Acts  xi.  XV :  8  :  "  God.... gave  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  as 
he  did  unto  us,  and  put  no  difference  between  them  and  us, 
purifying  their  hearts  by  faith." 

Two  words  are  employed  to  express  this  similitude  ;  one 
of  which,  coartRQ,  denotes  a  strict  and  exact  similitude,  likeness, 
or  conformity. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  113 

The  manner  in  which  this  baptism  was  conferred  or  ad- 
ministered was  not  only  distinct  from  plunging,  but  it  was 
absohitoly  inconsistent  with  that  action — Plunging  was  an 
iMPossiiuLiTY  in  the  administration  of  tlus  baptism. 

It  is  proper  to  adduce  those  synonyrnous  words  which  the 
sacred  Spirit  has  graciously  thought  fit  to  employ,  for  the 
purpose  of  fixing  the  sense  of  that  word  wliich  is  the  imme- 
diate subject  of  investigation.  We  waive  all  reference  to 
critics  and  commentators,  however  numerous,  and  however 
positive.  We  depend  on  the  New  Testament  alone — on 
those  Avriters,  under  the  immediate  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  were  his  instruments  in  explaining  spiritual  things 
by  spiritual  words. 

This  test  is  a  sort  of  experimentnm  crucis  to  false  propo- 
sitions. It  has  detected  many.  Let  us  try  it  in  the  case 
before  us. 

Lukexxiv.  49. — Shall  i'en  J  the  Holy  Ghost — from  on  high. 

I  saw  the  Spirit  descending  from  heaven  like  a  dove, 
and  it  abode  upon  him  ;  John  i.  32. 

This  is  what  was  spoken — I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit ; 
Acts  ii.  2. 

Jesus  having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  has  shed  forth  this  which  ye  now  see  and 
hear  ;  Acts  ii.  35. 

Suddenly  there  came  from  heaven,  and  appeared  unto  them 
cloven  tongues;  Acts  ii.  2,  17. 

That  they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;  for  as  yat  he 
Avas  fallen  upon  none  of  them  ;  Acts  viii.  16. 

Ananias  put  his  hands  on  Paul,  that  he  might  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  Acts  ix.  17. 

God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
Acts  X.  38. 

Acts^x.  44. — The  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all. 

Acts  xi.  15. — The  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them,  even  as  on 
us  at  the  beginning. 

Acts  X.  45. — They  of  the  circumcision  were  astonished, 
because  on  the  Gentiles  was  poured  out  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Acts  XV.  8. — Giving  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  as  unto  us. 

Titus  iii.  G. — The  Holy  Ghost  ;  which  he  shed  on  us 
abundantly. 

)  Peter  i.  12. — The  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven. 

Eph.  i.  13. — Sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise. 

These  passages  give  us  as  synonymous  Avith  baptize  : — 

Sending    down;     Coming;    Giving;    Falling;    Shedding; 

10* 


114  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

Pouring;    Sitting    or   Abiding;   Anointing;     Filling;    and 
Sealing. 

In  all  these  syTionymous  words,  there  is  not  one  that  raises 
the  idea  oi^  plunging,  or  even  approaches  to  it.  Yet  they  all 
refer  to  bapdstn.  "  The  Apostles  shall  be  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  is  the  prediction  ;  the  Holy  Ghost  was  i>oured 
OUT  upon  them,  is  the  acconiplishihcnt.  Even  Paul  who  was 
then  absent  speaks  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  being  shed  on  him  ; 
doubtless  at  his  baptism  ;  Acts  ix.  17.  Perhaps,  however, 
the  instance  of  our  Lord  is  the  most  complete,  of  baptism  by 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  in  that  we  have  the  very  height  of 
certainty,  there  was  no  plunging,  nor  any  thing  like  it : 
although  almost  all  the  synonyms  meet  in  his   person ; — as 

DESCENDING,  COMING,  FILLING,  ANOINTING,     SITTING     Or     ABI- 
DING and  SEALING. 

We  are  now  advanced  to  the  question,  "  Did  baptism  by  wa- 
ter resemble  iap^i^m  by  the  Holy  Ghost?  — and  in  what?"  That 
there  must  have  been  sotne  resemblance  is  certain ;  and  the 
resemblance  must  have  been  striking ;  for  the  Apostle  Peter, 
seeing  the  Holy  Ghost  poured  out  on  the  company  at  Corne- 
lius's, immediately  recollected  an  allusion  to  John's  baptism 
by  water.  The  Lord  said,  "  John  baptized  with  water  ;  but 
ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  If  there  were  no 
resemblance  between  the  two  baptisms,  how  came  the  Apos- 
tle's memory  to  be  refreshed  with  what  he  saw  ?  How  came 
he  to  lay  a  stress  on  his  recollection,  thus  raised  fo  exercise  ? 
This  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  his  mind,  that  he  ad- 
verts to  it  a  long  while  afterwards.  Acts  xv.  8.  If  it  be  asked 
what  he  did  see?  I  answer,  he  saw  the  pouring  down  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  for  this  is  the  ter?n  expressly  used  in  the 
history. 

Try  both  these  irreconcilable  propositions  by  the  substi- 
tution of  their  synonyms.  "  John  plunges  you  in  water  ;  but 
ye  shall  be  plunged  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Shocking  abuse 
of  language,  and  principle  !  Try  the  other  :  "  The  Holy 
Ghost  shall  be  poured  upon  you,  shed  upon  you,  fall  upon 
you,  &c.  ;  as  John  pours  water,  sheds  water,  lets  full  water, 
&c.,  upon  you."  What  is  there  offensive  in  this  ?  What  is 
there  contrary  to  fact?  What  to  decency?  What  to  the 
analogy  of  faith  ?  What  to  the  analogy  of  grammar  and  lan- 
guage ?  Even  that  seemingly  inappropriate  term,  anointing, 
preserves  the  action  though  it  changes  the  fluid. 

The  baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost  was  conferred  by  the  de- 
srending  of  the  baptismal  element.     Are  there  any  instances 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  Il5 

of  the  use  of  the  word  baptism  in  reference  to  water,  which 
instances  also  mark  the  descending  of  the  baptismal  element  ? 
If  there  are,  then  water  baptism  must  be  taken  in  a  sense 
strictly  coincident  with  baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  or  else 
we  render  one  part  of  the  Word  of  God  repugnant  to 
another. 

The  first  instance  is  afforded  by  the  Greek  translators  of 
Daniel,  who  inform  us  that  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  his  deranged 
state,  should  be  baptized  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  Daniel  iv. 
23,  25,  33  ;  and  this  is  repeated,  to  inform  us  that  he  really 
was  baptized  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  v.  21,  affording  so 
many  unquestionable  applications  of  the  word  baptize,  to  the 
descent  of  the  dew  of  heaven  upon  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  va- 
pours raised  into  the  atmosphere  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  de- 
scended, shed  themselves, /e//  down,  during  the  cooler  hours 
of  the  evening  and  night,  on  the  person  of  the  unhappy  Ba- 
bylonian monarch  :  by  these,  say  the  Seventy,  he  was  bap- 
tized .'    A  clearer  instance  of  descent  there  cannot  be. 

A  New  Testament  instance  is  furnished  by  a  passage  from 
an  eminent  Greek  scholar,  who,  intending  to  elucidate  the 
subject,  remarks  that  the  word  baptism  is  used  in  reference  to 
the  Israelites  passing  through  the  sea,  and  under  the  cloud. 
1  Cor.  X.  2.  But  the  Israelites  did  not  pass  through  the  sea, 
if  by  sea  he  means  the  water ;  for  Moses  affirms  twice,  that 
they  passed  over  on  dry  land.  Exod.  xiv.  21,  29.  Nehem. 
iv.  II.  If  he  means  to  say,  they  passed  along,  or  across  the 
bed  of  the  sea,  where  the  waters  usually  were,  though  at  that 
time  absent,  he  is  right ;  but  what  language  is  this  ? — to  pass 
through  dry  land  !  On  the  other  clause  of  the  sentence  there 
can  be  but  one  opinion  ;  for  if  Israel  were  under  the  cloud, 
then  was  the  cloud  over  Israel ;  and  if  Israel  were  baptized  in 
the  cloud,  then  did  water,  the  baptismal  element,  descend  on 
the  Israelites  from  above,  as  the  dew  had  descended  on  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. The  word  baptize  maintains  the  same  reference 
to  descending,  when  water  is  the  baptismal  element,  as  it  bears 
when  employed  to  describe  the  pouring  out,  or  pouring  down, 
SHEDDING  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

In  these  preparatory  remarks,  I  have  adhered  to  the  rule, 

that  EVERY  WORD  SHOULD  BE  TAKEN  IN  ITS  PRIMARY,  OB- 
VIOUS, AND  ORDINARY  MEANING,  UNLESS  THERE  BE  SOME- 
THING IN  THE  CONNECTION  OR  IN  THE  NATURE  OF  THINGS 
WHICH    REQUIRES    IT    TO    BE  TAKEN    OTHERWISE. 

When  the  Pharisee  saw  that  our  Lord  went  to  dinner  without 
BAPTISM,  Luke  xi.  38,  is  it  possible  that  he  could  expect  our 


il6  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

Lord  should  plunge  himself  before  dinner  ?  But  to  see  the  real 
force  of  this  word  in  this  instance,  we  must  recollect  that  the 
feet  were  washed,  as  a  customary  compliment,  by  pouring 
water  upon  them,  I^uke  vii.  44  ;  and  the  hands  also.  So  we 
read  of  Elisha's  "  pouring  water  upon  the  hands  of  Elijah." 
2  Kings  iii.  11. 

If  it  is  asked  whether  the  word  baptize,  as  used  by  the 
Greek  translators  of  the  Old  Testament,  necessarily  implies 
PLUNGING,  let  the  use  of  it  in  the  instance  of  the  passage  of 
the  Jordan  by  the  Israelites,  Josh.  iii.  15,  17,  be  considered; 
a  history  that  affords  great  illustration  of  the  passage  of  the 
Red  Sea  by  Israel  under  Moses.  "As  they  who  bare  the 
Ark  of  the  Lord  were  come  unto  Jordan,  and  the  feet  of  the 
priests  that  bare  the  Ark  were  baptized,  say  the  lxx,  moist- 
ened, damped,  vjetted,  dipped  in  the  smallest  possible  quan- 
tity of  water,  the  very  reverse  of  plunging,  the  water  recoiled, 
and  stood  on  a  heap."  The  feet  of  the  priests  were  rather 
at  than  in  the  water :  rather  at  the  brim  of  the  bank  that  con- 
lined  the  water,  than  immersed  in  the  water  itself.  This  our 
translators  have  properly  expressed.  All  Israel  passed  over 
on  dry  ground,  as  at  the  Red  Sea. 

The  bird  that  was  to  be  let  fly  away  at  the  cleansing  of  the 
leper.  Lev.  xvi.  6,  was  to  be  baptized,  dipped,  in  the  blood 
of  the  bird  that  was  killed :  but  no  bird  could  yield  blood 
enough  to  admit  the  plunging  of  the  living  bird ;  of  cedar 
wood,  scarlet,  wool  and  hyssop,  which  also  were  to  be  dip- 
ped. The  word  baptize  is  never  used  in  the  lxx  in  the  sense 
of  PLUNGING  ;  nor  is  it  so  understood  by  our  translators,  ex- 
cept in  one  instance,  Job  ix.  31,  fur  the  sake  of  a  strength  of 
expression. 

^^to — The  Hebrew  term,  rendered  baptize,  expresses  not 
only  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  in  Talmudical  Hebrew,  ablu- 
tion, immersion,  washing,  &c.  But  to  Gospel  baptism  this 
can  have  had  no  reference;  though  it  preceded  that  ordi- 
nance ;  as  in  the  instance  of  Naainan,  2  Kings,  v.  14,  the  al- 
lusions to  the  custom  in  the  Psalms  of  David  and  other  pas- 
sages in  the  Old  Testament.  That  it  was  continued  afterwards, 
appears  not  only  from  the  united,  unequivocal,  and  uniform 
testimonies  of  the  best  informed  and  most  inquisitive  Jewish 
Rabbis  ;  but  also  John  iii.  25,  from  the  questions  agitated 
between  certain  Jews  and  the  disciples  of  John,  about  ritual 
purification. 

Corkesponding  Terms. — Whoever  translates  from  a  for- 
eign language,  most  solicitously  should  select  corresponding 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  117 

terms  in  the  language  into  which  he  translates.  He  should  not 
adopt  several  terms  having  distinct  ideas  in  his  own  language, 
to  express  one  idea  of  his  original ;  and  he  should  be  most 
anxiously  cautious  not  to  combine  them,  or  so  to  employ  them 
as  if  they  were  synonymous,  that  his  ordinary  readers  must 
misapprehend  them.  If  the  foreign  term  be  of  extensive  im- 
port, a  caution  should  mark  in  what  sense  it  is  used,  lest  the 
writer  should  subject  himself  to  unpleasant  imputations.  For 
instance,  says  some  perverse  sophist  : — 

"  The  term  Baptism  imports  drowning."  He  quotes  from 
Josephus — "  The  ship  of  Jonah  was  about  to  be  baptized" — 
sunk,  or  overwhelmed.  The  death  of  Aristobulus — "  Enticed 
in  the  water  to  swim,  and  then,  under  pretence  of  play,  bap- 
tized him" — he  was  drowned.  "  The  young  man  being  im- 
mersed in  a  fish-pond,  he  came  to  his  end."  Josephus's  "  own 
ship  being  baptized" — wrecked.  "The  Dolphin,  vexed  at 
the  Ape's  falsehood,  immersing  him,  killed  him,"  by  plunging 
him  into  the  water.  Lucian  represents  Timon,  the  man- 
hater,  as  saying,  "  If  any  one  being  carried  away  by  a  river, 
should  stretch  forth  his  hands  to  me  for  aid,  I  would  push  him 
down  again  when  sinking,  baptizonta,  that  he  should  never 
rise  again." 

Baptists,  when  writing  on  the  subject,  thus  begin  their 
statements—"  Baptism,  from  the  Greek  word  Baptizo,  of 
Bapto,  I  dip  or  plunge  ;"  "  to  dip,  plunge,  or  immerse  ;"  to  these 
three  words  are  added,  imbued,  drenched  or  soaked,  and  over- 
whelmed. Are  all  these  English  terms  synonymous  ?  Have 
the  words  dip,  plunge,  immerse,  imbue,  drench,  soak,  over- 
whelm, the  same  meaning,  in  our  language,  to  say  nothing  of 
sinking  and  drowning  ?  If  it  be  true,  that  either  or  all  of 
these  words  fairly  express  the  sense  of  the  Greek  word  bap- 
tize, then  the  Baptists'  cause  is  resigned  to  its  adversaries. 

Let  us  interchange  some  of  these  synonyms.  I  content  my- 
self with  plunge  and  dip.  The  instances  shall  be  taken  from 
the  New  Testament.  — Luke  xvi.  24  :  "  Send  Lazarus,  that  he 
may  plunge  the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water."  Plunge  the  ex- 
treme TIP  of  his  finger  !  The  ideas  are  irreconcilable  :  the 
phrase  is  ludicrous  :  the  thing  is  impossible  !  Matthew  xxii. 
3  ;  Mark  xiv.  20  :  "  Judas  who  plunges  his  hand  with  me 
in  the  dish."  What !  two  hands  plunged  into  the  same  dish 
at  the  same  instant !  Rev.  xix.  13  :  "  The  person  called  the 
Word  of  God  was  clothed  in  a  vesture  plunged  in  blood." 
The  context  shows  that  the  writer  had  in  his  mind  the  effect 
of  grapes  trodden  in  a  wine-press  ;  does  the  man  who  treads 


118  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

grapes  in  a  wine-press  plunge  his  clothes  in  their  juice "? 
Surely  not ;  for  the  treaders  held  supports  in  their  hands,  to 
avoid  that  plunging. 

To  these  passages  may  be  added  another,  1  Corinthians  x. 
2 ;  "  our  fathers  were  baptized,  plunged  in  the  sea."  But 
Moses  says,  Exod.  xiv.,  "  The  children  of  Israel  shall  go  on 
dry  ground  through  the  sea  ;  the  children  of  Israel  walked  on 
dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."  Isaiah  also,  xi.  15,  sanc- 
tions this  by  allusion,  when  he  speaks  of  men  passing  the 
sea  dry-shod.  How  then  were  the  Israelites  baptized,  in  the 
sense  of  being  plunged  ?  By  what  means,  while  this  is  main- 
tained, shall  we  reconcile  these  inspired  writers  ?  Moreover, 
if  full-grown  men  were  really  plunged  in  the  sea,  what  be- 
came of  children  not  half  their  height  1  They  must  have 
been  "  baptized  unto  Moses"  in  the  sense  of  drowning. 

Hence,  I  infer  that  we  should  be  cautious  not  to  err  by 
stating  even  truth  in  extreme  terms  — because  it  is  not  safe  to 
say,  either  that  Baptism  always  includes  drowning,  or  plung- 
ing ;  or  that  "  Bapto  means  /  dip  or  plunge,'"'  without  explain- 
ing the  distinction  between  those  terms  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  marking  in  what  places  they  occur  in  the  sense 
proper  to  each  term.  Were  this  correctly  practised,  it  would 
contribute  essentially  to  the  promotion  of  Christian  charity. 

Therefore,  as  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  the  Greek  word 
Baptism  to  one  signification,  so  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  it  in 
translation  to  one  English  term,  and  to  intend  by  that  term, 
one  action  only  in  one  form.  But  if  we  use  several  terms,  it 
is  our  bounden  duty  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  those  terms, 
to  understand  them  fully,  and  to  state  clearly  their  distinctions 
and  diflerences.  Inasmuch  as  our  language  aflbrds  more 
than  one  term  to  express  various  circumstances  or  modes  of 
the  same  action,  we  should  endeavour  correctly  to  understand 
those  terms. 

Dipping  imports  precisely  a  partial  plunging : — when  a 
person  dips  into  a  book,  we  infer  his  slight  acquaintance  with 
its  contents.  iSwallows  dip  into  a  pond,  but  we  never  see 
them  plunge.  To  add  no  more,  it  would  be  nonsense  to  call 
the  *'  dipping  needle,"  by  the  term  '■^plunging  needle." 

The  inference  is  undeniable,  that  to  plunge  and  to  dip  are 
not  equivalent  terms  ;— and  our  purpose  now  is  to  point  out 
distinctions  equall)'^  strong  between  the  terms  plunging  and 
overwhelming;  b_y  both  of  which  the  original  word  Baptism 
has  been  rendered. 

Overwhelm  is  a  compound  term.     "VV^hen  resolved  into  its 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  119 

component  parts,  it  divides  into  whelm  and  over :  and  each  of 
them  demands  attention. 

To  whelm  is  to  throw  upon  a  subject,  whether  person  or 
thing,  or  over  that  person  or  thing  :  or  to  throw  upon  or  at  a 
person  or  thing,  what  may  fall  upon  him  or  it ;  whether  he 
or  it  be  covered  therewith  or  not.  It  is  not  to  throw  a  person 
down  into  the  mire  ;  but  to  throw  mire  at  or  against  the  per- 
son.    We  find  it  used  in  this  sense  by  Spenser : 


They  by  commandment  of  Diana  there, 
Her  vvhelm'd  ivith  stones  ; 


They  did  not  throw  her  at  the  stones,  nor  throw  her  upon 
or  against  the  stones ;  but  they  threw  the  stones  at  her, 
against  her,  upon  her;  and  these  stones  whelmed  her. — 
Stones  throAvn  at  a  person  may  strike  the  legs,  or  the  back, 
or  elsewhere. 

If  there  be  any  truth  in  language,  any  accuracy  in  the 
principles  on  which  our  language  is  constructed,  the  term 
over  implies  upper,  above,  a  higher  station  or  place  ;  so  Ave  say, 
ouerhead,  ouertop,  ouershade,  oversow,  overlay,  ouerarch,  &c. 
Matters  falling  from  above,  on  a  person  or  thing,  ovERwhelm 
him  or  it.  Here  then,  we  perceive  an  essential  difference 
from  the  notion  of  plunging.  If  a  person  be  plunged  into 
water,  the  water  is  below  him  ;  he  descends  into  the  water,  he 
is  lowered  into  it;  he  is  vtiDV.Kwhelmed'^. — If  a  person  be 
ovER-whelmed  with  Avater,  the  Avater  is  above  him  :  it  descends 
on  him  from  a  height.  A  person  plunged  into  Avater  ap- 
proaches, or  is  brought  to  that  water  :  when  a  person  is 
overwhelmed  with  Avater,  the  water  approaches,  or  is  brought 
to  him.  The  actions  are  the  reverse  of  each  other,  and  are 
also  incompatible.  Snow  may  overwhelm  a  person  ;  but  he 
cannot  be  plunged  into  snoAV.  He  may  be  overwhelmed  with 
sand  falling  on  him ;  but  he  cannot  be  plunged  into  sand.  He 
may  be  overwhelmed  Avith  gravel  or  stones  ;  but  he  cannot  be 
plunged  into  gravel  or  into  stones.  He  may  be  overwhelmed 
Avith  earth  falling  doAvn  and  covering  him  ;  but  he  cannot  be 
plunged  into  earth.  As  one  of  these  actions  is  possible,  and 
the  other  impossible,  they  cannot  be  the  same.  How  then, 
can  the  terms  of  language  by  Avhich  they  are  described  be 
synonymous  ?  To  use  them  synonymously  deludes  the  un- 
Avary.  It  leads  the  confiding  reader  to  admit  as  true,  Avhat  is 
false  in   fact.     It  conjures  up  a  kind  of  shadow  in  place  of 


120  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

real  argument,  which  is  the  thing  wanted.  Wherefore  it  is 
the  duty  of  those  who  know  better,  to  detect  such  fallacies  ; 
and  to  separate  and  arrange  the  passages  which  have  been 
passed  by  indiscriminately,  without  having  accurate  ideas 
affixed  to  them. 

Thus  the  distinctions  which  exist  in  the  use  of  the  terms 
in  the  English  language  enable  us  properly  to  arrange  the 
instances  of  the  term  Baptism  in  "  the  Scripture  of  Truth." 
Whence  we  infer,  that  if  the  Baptists  employ  the  words  "  dip, 
overwhelm,  plunge,  soak,"  &c.,  as  synonymous,  they  mislead 
themselves  and  their  readers :  but  as  they  use  those  words 
correctly  in  different  senses,  and  according  to' their  true,  dis- 
tinct, and  individual  import  in  other  cases  ;  where  do  they 
find  their  warrant  for  annexing  to  the  term  a  single  sense  ex- 
clusively, that  of  plunging,  when  it  is  applied  to  the  mode  of 
administering  the  ordinance  of  Christian  Baptism  ? 

The  following  examples  are  cited  by  the  Baptists  as  their 
strongest  demonstrations  from  the  Pagan  authors,  in  favour  of 
their  exclusive  interpretation,  that  the  Greek  Bamw,  and 
Banna fxog  mean  only  putting  under  water  ;  and  that  they  ex- 
press in  English  terms,  as  synonymous,  to  dip,  to  overwhelm, 
to  plunge,  and  to  soah,  with  similar  words.  A  iew  remarks  are 
interspersed,  to  show  that  the  evidence  is  either  totally  irre- 
levant, or  altogether  defective,  or  that  the  instances  adduced 
directly  confute  their  own  fundamental  proposition. 


I.  BAPTISM  IN  THE  SENSE  OF  PLUNGING  ; 

MEANING  THE  WHOLE  AND  ENTIRE 

SUBxMERSION 

OF  THE 

Person  or  Thing  baptized,  under  water. 

1.  Josephus  says,  concerning  the  ship  in  which  Jonah 
attempted  to  flee  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  "  The  ship 
was  about  to  be  baptized,  (ianxi^eadai,  sunk  or  overwhelmed." 
Antiq.  Lib.  ix.  C.  x. 

2.  Josephus   uses  the   same   word  twice   concerning  the 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  l^l 

death  of  Aristobulus,  the  brother  of  Maviamne,  who  was 
drowned  at  Jericho,  according  to  Herod's  order,  by  certain 
Greeks,  Avho  enticed  him  into  the  water  to  swim,  and  then 
under  pretence  of  play,  ^ami'c.ovTeg  ovx  avrjxav  coj,  x«t  xajror- 
Ttaoiv  nnonri^at,  baptizing,  immersing,  or  putting  him  under 
water,  they  did  not  leave  off  until  they  had  quite  suffocated 
him.     Jewish  Antiq.  Book  xv. 

3.  He  mentions  the  same  event  in  his  Wars  of  the  Jews, 
Book  I.  c.  xxii,  §  2.  "  The  young  man  was  sent  to  Jericho, 
and  there,  according  to  his  order,  being  immersed,  ^anxitp/jisvog, 
in  a  fish-pond,  he  came  to  his  end." 

4.  Josephus,  in  his  Life,  speaking  of  his  own  voyage  to 
Rome,  and  providential  deliverance  when  shipwrecked,  says  ; 
— '■'■  ^ariTiadevjog  yuQ  rj!.io)v  lov  nloiov,  for  our  own  ship  being 
baptized,  or  overwhelmed  in  the  midst  of  the  Adriatic  Gulf, 
we  being  about  the  number  of  600  persons,  swam  all  night, 
and  at  daybreak  about  80  were  taken  up  by  another  ship.'" 

5.  Speaking  of  the  sons  of  Herod,  he  says,  "  This,  as  the 
last  storm,  eni^umiaev,  epibaptized,  or  iitterly  overwhelmed, 
the  young  men,  already  weather-beaten." 

6.  When  the  inhabitants  of  Jotapata  urged  him  to  stay 
there,  they  pressed  him  not  "  to  leave  his  friends,  nor  to  leap 
out  of  a  ship  enduring  a  storm,  into  which  he  had  come  in  a 
calm.  For  the  city  must  be  epibaptized,  or  utterly  over- 
whelmed, eniBunJiaeiv,  no  one  daring  to  oppose  its  enemies, 
if  he,  Avho  kept  their  courage  up,  should  depart." 

7.  Esop's  Fables ;  The  Ape  and  the  Dolphin. — "  the 
dolphin  vexed  at  such  a  falsehood,  ^ami'Qwv  uvtov  anBXTEivev, 
immersing  him,  killed  him,"  by  plunging  him  into  the  water. 
Let  any  child  judge  what  the  word  means  here. 

8.  "  Platting  a  garland  once,  I  found  Cupid  among  the  roses. 
Taking  hold  of  him  by  the  wings,  E^unxioeig  lov  oirov,  I 
immersed  him,  or  jjlunged  him  into  wine,  and  drank  him  up 
Avith  it."     Melancthon's  Anacreon. 

9.  Polybius,  speaking  of  a  sea-fight  between  the  Cartha- 
ginians and  the  Romans,  says  ;  "  They  immersed  or  sunk, 
e^anntov^  many  of  the  vessels  of  the  Romans." 

10.  Gregory  Nazianzen. — "  That  we  may  not  be  immersed 
or  sunk  with  the  ship  and  the  crew  ;"  (^amiadofisv. 

1 1 .  Dion  Cassius. — "  How  would  not  his  ship  be  immersed 
or  sunh,  ^umiadeir],  by  the  multitude  of  our  rowers  ?"  Book 
1.^18. 

12.  "They  were  immersed,  s^ami'Qovto,  their  ships  being 
bored  through." 

11 


122  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

13.  Diodorus  Siculus. — "  rr^g  dsvfMg  (^vdiaOeiOTjg"  in  the 
Text,  "  whose  ship  being  sunk."  In  the  Note,  "  ^umiaOeiarjC^ 
beintr  immersed  is  the  Coislinian  reading,  which  is  sufiiciently 
ekigant."     Polybius,  Lib.  xi.  ^  15. 

14.  Lucian  represents  Tinion  the  man-hater  as  saying  ; 
"  If  any  one  being  carried  away  by  a  river  should  stretch 
forth  his  hands  to  me  for  aid,  I  would  push  him  down  when 
sinking,  ^umi'Qovia,  that  he  should  never  rise  again." 

It  must  be  observed  that  not  one  of  those  instances  is  from 
Scripture  :  therefore,  Scripture  never  uses  the  term  Baptism, 
in  the  sense  of  plunging  ;  for  then  it  woiUd  have  been  dis- 
covered and  quoted. 

As  it  is  not  denied  that  plunging  is  one  sense  of  the  term 
Baptism,  there  is  no  need  to  add  a  word  on  this  division  of 
the  subject. 


II.  BAPTISM  IN  THE  SENSE  OF  DIPPING  ; 

MEANING  THE  PAPvTIAL  COVERING,  OR 

IMMERSION 

OF   THE 

Person  or  Thing,  in  Water. 

1.  Exod.  xii.  22. — Ye  shall  dip  a  bunch  of  hyssop  in  the 
blood,  &c. — f^atpavTF,  dipping,  ye  shall  strike  it. 

2.  Lev.  iv.  6. — The  priest  shall  dip  his  linger  in  the  blood, 
and  sprinkle  it;  ^aipei — hiu  ngogoarei. 

3.  Lev.  iv.  17. — The  priest  shall  dip  his  finger. 

4.  Lev.  ix.  9. — He  dipt  his  finger  in  the  blood. 

5.  Lev.  xi.  32. — Every  vessel,  &c.,  it  must  he  pmt  into 
Avater  ;   cf?  vdo)g  ^aq^rjoeiai. 

6.  Lev.  xiv.  6. — He  shall  dip  them,  and  the  living  bird,  in 
the  blood  of  the  bird. 

7.  Lev.  xiv.  16. — He  shall  dip  his  right  finger  in  the  oil. 

8.  Lev.  xiv.  51. — He  shall  dip  the  cedar,  hyssop,  scarlet, 
and  the  living  bird. 

9.  Num.  xix.  18. — A  clean  person  shall  take  hyssop,  and 
dip,  (?«y/£t,  in  the  water,  and  sprinkle,  a  very  different  word, 
7Trgi(]()ni  Fv,  upon  the  tent. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  123 

10.  Deut.  xxxiii.  24. — Let  Asher  dip  his  foot  in  oil. 

11.  Josh.  iii.  15. — The  feet  of  the  priests  were  dipped  iu 
the  brim  of  the  Avater. 

12.  Ruth  ii.  14. — Dip  thy  morsel  in  the  vinegar. 

13.  1  Sam.  xiv.  27. — Jonathan  dipped  the  end  of  his  rod  in. 
a  honeycomb. 

14.  2  Kings  viii.  15. — Hazael  dipt  a  cloth  in  water. 

15.  Job  ix.  31 . — Yet  thou  shalt  plunge  me  in  the  ditch. 

16.  Psa.  Ixviii.  23. — Thy  foot  may  be  dipped  in  blood  and 
the  tongue  of  thy  dogs  in  the  same. 

All  these  places  clearly  refer  to  partial  immersion  or  dip- 
ping ;  the  passage  in  Job  not  excepted  :  for  the  import  of 
that  passage  is  not,  "  that  a  righteous  person  should  be  entirely 
plunged  over  head  and  ears  into  mire  and  dirt" — but  "  that 
his  imperfections  and  failures  would  prove  so  many  stains  on 
his  character  :  like  the  defiled  condition  of  a  person  who  has 
fallen  into  a  ditcfi  of  shallow  muddy  water." 

17.  Luke  xvi.  24. — That  Lazarus  may  bapt,  or  dip,  his 
finger. 

18.  Jolm  xiii.  26. — He  to  whom  I  bapting  the  sop — no  doubt, 
dipping. 

'19.  Rev.  xix.  13. — Clothed  with  a  vesture  bapted'm  blood, 
dipped  in  it. 

20.  Matthew  xxvi.  23  ;  Mark  xiv.  28. — He  that  inbapts, 
dips,  his  hand  with  me  in  the  dish. 

21.  John  xiii.  26. — Inbapting  or  dipping  the  sop. 

22.  Homer.' — As  when  a  smith,  to  harden  an  iron  hatchet  or 
pole-axe,  ^amsi,  dips  it  in  cold  water. — Odyssey  ix.  line  392. 

23.  Lycophron. — The  child  ^utpei,  shall  plunge  liis  sword 
into  the  viper's  bowels.      Cassandra,  ver.  1121. 

No  child  can  plunge,  from  end  to  end,  a  sword  into  a  viper's 
bowels  :  the  handle  at  least  must  be  excepted.  A  viper  is 
but  a  slender  creature,  neither  thick  nor  broad  ;  and  cannot 
contain  a  sword. 

24.  Euripides. — Go  take  the  water-pot,  and  ^uipaao,  dip 
in  the  sea.     Hecuba,  Act  iii.  ver.  609. 

25.  Theocritus. — Every  morning  my  servant  ^aifiae,  shall 
dip  me  a  cup  of  honey.     Idylliwn  v.  ver.  126. 

26.  The  boy  let  down  a  capacious  pitcher,  making  haste 
^nxpui,  to  dip  it.  Idyllium  xiii.  ver  47.  No  servant  would 
think  of  plunging,  submerging,  a  cup  in  a  honey-pot.  Good 
honey  does  not  allow  of  it.  Who  has  not  drawn  water  in  a 
pitcher,  without  submerging,  or  plunging  the  whole  of  the 
vessel ? 


124  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

27.  Dionysius  Halicarnensis.  —  One  plunging,  ^atfjag, 
his  spear  between  the  other's  ribs,  who  at  the  same  instant 
pushed  his  into  his  enemy's  belly.  Antiq.  Rom.  lib.  v.  It  is 
completely  impossible  that  a  spear  of  the  shortest  kind,  four- 
teen feet  long,  or  of  any  length  entitling  it  to  the  name  of  a 
spear,  should  be  plunged,  thrust  from  end  to  end,  in  a  man's 
belly.     Some  spears  were  twenty-five  feet  in  length. 

28.  2  Kings  v.  14. — Naaman  dipped,  or  baptized,  himself 
in  Jordan  seven  times. 

29.  An  old  verse  has  often  been  quoted  from  Plutarch — 
Aaxog  fianri'Ct],  dvvat  ds  lot  ovdejuig  sqi — The  bladder  may  be 
dipped,  but  never  drowned  ;  or  it  may  be  immersed,  but  it 
cannot  be  kept  under  water. 

30.  Basil,  the  Christian  Father,  speaks  of  "  suffering  with 
those  that  were  immersed  or  plunged  in  the  sea,"  ^unnQofievotg. 

31.  Polybius.— "  Such  a  storm  suddenly  arose,  through  all 
the  country,  that  the  ships  were  baptized,  or  immersed,  in  the 
Tyber." 

32.  Polybius,  III.  c.  72,  quoted  by  Livy,  Book  xxi.— "  The 
infantry  crossed  it  with  difficulty,  baptized,  or  immersed  up  to 
their  breasts." 

33.  Porphyry,  speaking  of  Styx,  the  fabulous  river  of  hell, 
says  ;  "  The  person  that  has  been  a  sinner,  having  gone  a 
little  way  into  it,  is  plunged  or  immersed  up  to  the  head," 
^umi'QBTui,  fie;(Qi  xewaXtjg. 

34.  Strabo  uses,  ^^  /hs/qi  o/JcpotXov  ^ami'i^ofiEvoiv  —  Immersed 
up  to  the  middle." 

35.  Diodorus  Siculus.  —  "  Many  land  animals,  carried 
away  by  the  river  Nile,  being  immersed,  are  destroyed  :  others 
escape,  fleeing  to  higher  places."  Ships  may  be  run  ashore 
in  a  river,  without  being  entirely  sunk  under  water.  But  how 
can  it  be  said,  that  the  cases  32,  33,  and  34,  support  the  no- 
tion, that  plunging  is  the  inherent  and  only  sense  of  the  word 
Baptism  ?  Is  a  man  in  water  up  to  his  waist,  plunged?  So 
directly  is  it  the  contrary,  that  any  eye-witness  of  only  com- 
mon sense,  would  think  him  only  partially  immersed,  and  no 
more  ;  for  all  the  upper  parts  of  his  person  are  above  the 
water,  consequently  he  cannot  be  plunged.  Immersed  up  to 
the  breast,  up  to  the  head,  afford  the  same  remark.  Had  Por- 
phyry said,  "ouer  the  head,"  the  passage  had  been  to  the 
purpose. 

36.  Strabo. — "The  lakes  near  Agrigentum  have  the  taste 
of  sea-water,  but  a  different  nature  ;  for  it  does  not  befall 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  125 

the  things  which  cannot  swim,  to  be  immersed,  ^aTtiit,ea6ai, 
but  they  swim  on  the  surface  like  wood."  Geography,  ix. 

37.  Strabo  speaks  of  a  river,  in  another  place,  whose  wa- 
ters are  so  buoyant,  "  that  if  an  arrow  be  thrown  in,  /uoUig 
^ami^EaOai,  it  would  scarcely  be  immersed,  or  would  hardly 
sink."    L.  xiii. 

38.  Strabo  mentions  also  a  lake  on  the  top  of  which  bitu- 
men floats,  in  which  a  man  cannot  be  immersed,  [iumi'Qsadai, 
but  is  borne  up  by  the  water.  L.  xvi.  In  these  passages  the 
sense  is  clear ;  partial  plunging  is  the  writer's  idea. 

39.  Dion  Cassius.  — "  Such  a  storm  suddenly  pervaded 
all  the  country,  that  the  ships  that  were  in  the  Tyber  were 
immersed  or  sunk  ,•"  t«  nloiu  ru  ev  tw  Ti^eqidi,  ^unriadijvcti. 
Book  xxxvii.  ^  57. 

40.  Diodorus  Siculus. — "  Most  of  the  land  animals,  if  they 
are  intercepted  by  the  river,  are  destroyed,  being  immersed,"^ 
f^amto/usra.     Lib.  1.  ^  36. 

41.  Diodorus  Siculus.— "The  river  being  borne  on  with 
a  more  violent  stream,  noXlovg  s^umiae,  immersed,  or  over- 
whelmed many."  Lib.  xvi.  ^  30. 

42.  Heliodorus.  —  "  Killing  some  on  the  land,  and  immers- 
ing or  plunging,  ^ann'QovTwv^  others  into  the  lake,  with  their 
boats  and  their  little  huts."     Ethiopia,  Lib.  i.  Cap.  xxx. 

Boats  which  are  plunged  into  a  lake  are  sunk.  Not  so  those 
which  are  immersed  or  partially  plunged,  as  we  see  every 
day.  Now  if  these  were  not  sunk,  neither  were  their  own- 
ers plunged;  for  the  same  word  applies  to  both  boats  and 
men. 

43.  Life  of  Homer,  ascribed  to  Dionysius  Halicarnensis. 
"  Homer  speaks  of  the  whole  sword  being  so  immersed,  §un- 
TioOeviog,  in  blood,  as  to  grow  warm  with  it."  Opuscula  My- 
thologica,  P.  297. 

44.  JEschy\us.—"  Immersing  his  two-edged  sword  in 
slaughters."  Doubtless  by  plunging  it  into  their  bodies,  not 
by  holding  it  before  a  small  puncture  to  be  sprinkled.  The 
handle  must  be  excepted  in  both  these  cases. 


126  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

III.  BAPTISM  IN  THE  SENSE  OF  OVERWHELMING ; 

MEANING  THE  WATER,  OR  OVERWHELMING  MATTER, 

BROUGHT  ON  THE  PERSON. 

1 .  Mark  x.  38,  39.—"  Are  ye  able  to  be  immersed  with  the 
immersion  wlierewith  1  shall  be  overwhelmed?"  "  With  the 
immersion  wherewith  1  shall  be  overwhelmed,  shall  ye  be 
immersed." 

2.  Luke  xii.  50.  "  I  have  a  baptism  wherewith  to  be  bap- 
tized ;"  which  Campbell  renders,  "  I  have  an  immersion  to 
undergo."  ''Are  ye  able  to  suffer  such  sufferings  as  will  be 
brought  on  me  ?" 

3.  In  the  Wars  of  the  Jews,  Josephus  says  ;  "Many  of  the 
noble  Jews,  as  though  the  city  was  on  the  point  of  being 
overwhelmed,  ^amitofierijc,  swam  away,  as  it  were,  from  the 
city" — overwhelmed  by  the  miseries  about  to  befall  the  city. 

4.  Josephus,  also  speaking  of  the  Heads  of  the  Robbers 
getting  into  Jerusalem,  says  ;  "  These  very  men,  besides  the 
seditions  they  made,  baptized  the  city,  efiumiauv  n]v  nohr, 
ouer whelmed  it,  lounged  it  into  ruin,  or  were  the  cause  of  its 
utter  destruction." — They  brought  upon  the  city  utter  destruc- 
tion. 

5.  Josephus,  speaking  of  the  sons  of  Herod,  says,  "  This, 
as  the  last  storm,  em^unjiafr^  epibaptized,  or  overwhelmed  the 
young  men,  already  weather-beaten." 

6.  Plutarch  uses  this  word  figuratively  ;  speaking  of  Otho's 
"  being  immersed,  or  overwhelmed,  or  sunk,  ^s^iumiaiisvoi,  in 
debts  of  fifty  millions  of  drachma?."  —  Having  brought  on 
himself  great  debts. 

7.  Plato  speaks  of  his  "  knowing  the  youth  to  be  "  over- 
whelmed or  immersed  in  sophistry."— Having  habituated  him- 
self, brought  on  himself  the  habit  of  sophistry. 

8.  Plato. — "  These  from  above  immersing,  ^aniil^oyTsg,  or 
sinking  the  ships  with  stones  and  engines  ;"  Book  i,  ^  32 — 
"  overwhelming  them  with  stones."  These  stones  are  express- 
ly said  to  come  from  above. 

9.  Plato. — loug  ds  idionag  ov  ^unzitovui  laig  siaq^nooccg. — 
Hut  the  common  people  they  do  not  overwhelm  with  taxes. 
i^ib.  J ,  ^  67.  They  do  not  britig  or  lay  upon  the  common 
people  enormous  taxes. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  127 

10.  Plato. — "  Perceiving  that  he  was  altogether  abandoned 
to  grief,  and  overwhelmed  or  immersed  in  calamity,"  rrj  av^cpoqu 
^B^amiafiBvov.  Lib.  ii.  Cap.  3.  Calamity  was  brought  over  or 
upon  him." 

11.  Plato. — "Since  the  things  you  met  with  have  over- 
whelmed you,"  e^unTit,6y.  Casus  tui  obruebant  ac  dcmerge- 
bant."  Lib  v.  Cap.  xvi. 

12.  Aristotle  uses  this  word  when  speaking  of  the  Pheni- 
cians  that  dwell  at  Cadiz  ;  "  who  sailing  beyond  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules  came  to  certain  uninhabited  lands,  which  at  the  ebb 
are  used  not  to  be  immersed,  or  covered  over  loith  water,  §an- 
Tt'Ceadui,  but  when  the  tide  is  at  the  full,  the  coasi  is  quite  in- 
luidated."  De  Mirabilibus,  p.  735.  Nothing  can  be  clearer 
than  that  these  lands  are  not  plunged.  Neither  can  there  be 
a  clearer  instance  of  oxERwhelming — for  the  water  advances 
to  the  lands  when  the  tide  Hows  ;  and  when  the  tide  is  at  the 
full  they  are  ovERwhelmed  ;  or  as  the  Baptists  assert,  they 
are  covered  over  with  water ;  undoubtedly  not  by  their  sink- 
ing under  the  water,  as  is  the  case  in  plunging,  but  because 
it  poured  itself  o\ ex  them. 

13.  Aristophanes  says,  "I  am  one  of  those  baptized  yes- 
terday,"  meaning  who  drank  much,  or  as  an  Englishman 
would  say,  who  had  well  soaked  ourselves,  or  were  immersed 
in  wine." 

This  may  mean  a  person  "  disguised  in  liquor  ;"  as  the  an- 
cient comedians  baptized  their  faces  to  disguise  them.  I 
rather  think  it  may  be  referred  to  another  head  :  "  I  was 
stained,  discoloured,  being  a  very  different  man  from  what  I  am 
when  sober." 


IV.   BAPTISM  IN  THE  SENSE  OF  STAINING ; 

MEANING  A 

DIFFERENT  COLOUR  PUT  UPON  A  THING, 

FROM    WHAT    IT    HAD    BEFORE. 

1.  Ezek.  xxiii.  1.5.—"  Dyed  attire  upon  their  heads." 

2.  Plato  uses  the  word  several  times  in  one  paragraph. — 
Oi  ^ucpets  sntdup  ^oulr^OMai  ^txipnt.  sqia ;  The  Dyers,  when 
they  are  minded  to  dip  wool  :  ovim  ds  ^aniovai,  and  so  they 
dip  it."     De  Republica,  Book  iv. 


128  MODE  OF  DAPTISM. 

3.  Marcus  Antoninus. — "A  conqueror  in  that  noble  strife  of 
mastering  the  passions,  fie^aju/aevov,  immersed  entirely  in  jus- 
tice— penitus  juslitia  inOutum."    Lib.  iii. 

4.  Marcus  Antoninus.  — "  The  mind  (ium£iai,,  is  imbued  by 
the  thoughts  ;  f^anTs,  dip  or  itnbue  it  therefore  in  the  constant 
meditation  of  such  thoughts."  Lib.  v. 

5.  Isa.  xxi.  4.  The  clause  rendered  in  the  English  trans- 
lation, fearfulncss  affrighted  mc,  is  in  the  lxx,  Iniquity  bap- 
tizes me,  overwhelms  rne. 

6.  Aristophanes  in  Plato  says  :  "I  am  one  of  those  bap- 
tized yesterday  ;"  meaning,  who  drank  much,  or  as  an  Eng- 
lishman would  say,  who  had  well  soaked  ourselves,  or  were 
immersed  in  wine. 

7.  An  instance  has  been  quoted  from  Homer's  Baiquxofi- 
vofinxttt,  or  Battle  of  the  Frogs  and  Mice,  where  it  is  said  of 
the  death  of  the  frog  Crambophagus, 

efiamejo  dai/juji  hfivrj  noQCfv^eu), 

and  the  lake  was  tinged  or  dyed  with  purple  blood  :  or  it 
was  overwhelmed  with  blood.  But  let  the  burlesque  nature  of 
the  poem  be  considered,  where  every  thing  is  heightened  to 
the  most  extravagant  degree,  and  the  gods  are  introduced  as 
consulting  about  this  tremendous  war,  and  the  word  immerse 
would  not  be  too  strong  for  the  Poet's  design.  The  heart  of 
this  gigantic  and  heroic  frog  was  so  full  of  blood,  that  it  made 
the  lake  so  red,  that  a  solid  body  dipped  in  blood  could  not 
have  been  redder. 

These  passages  contain  a  proper  and  a  metaphorical  use  of 
the  word  Baptize  :  but  in  all  it  imports  to  put  another  colour  on 
a  thing,  by  whatever  action.  — In  Ezekiel,  xxiii.  15  :  the  pro- 
bability is,  that  it  means  striped  turbans  of  more  than  one  co- 
lour ;  as  blue  and  white.  In  Plato  it  means  also  to  stain,  but 
a  dyer  would  think  wool  very  indiflerently  dyed  that  was  only 
plunged^ 

On  the  use  of  the  word  Baptize  by  Marcus  Antoninus,  I 
transcribe  a  note.*     Xylander  renders,  "  thou  shalt  not  tinge, 

•  VI.  30.  Mr)  /?a(/)i7f,  ne  mcrgaria  el  obruaris,  Xyl.  imo,  nc  iingaris, 
ne  inficiaris :  ne  mores  aulici  genuinum  animi  candorem  obfuscent, 
quod  inquinamenluvi  combibere  Septimius  dixit  de  Spectac.  C.  14. 

w?  Srt  n'?  T    iXlipaura  yvfi]  (poivtKi   jicnvr], 

ut  Hotnerus  loquitur  11.  i.  141.  i.  ul  Maro  ^?^.  xii. 

Jndum  sanguineo  veluti  violaverit  ostro 

Si  quia  cbur — 
quod  nosdicereraus,  "  that  you  be  not  stained:"  nam  quod  Grseci  f<ia- 
intv  et  PdiTTciv,  nos  dicimus,  "  to  stain." — Classical  Journal,  No.  23. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  129 

dye, OX  change  the  colour  of" — and  what  the  Greeks  expressed 
by  Baptein,  observes  the  author,  we  express  by  "  to  stain." — 
In  the  continuation,  Baphe  is  used  in  connection  with  the 
words  importing  discoloration,  a  communicated  tincture ;  as 
when  ivory  is  dyed,  green  or  red :  also  with  other  words, 
importing  what  the  Greeks  called  corruption  of  colours,  mean- 
ing that  when  a  painter  having  several  colours  on  his  pallette, 
mixes  two  or  more  of  them  together,  they  adulterate,  corrupt, 
baptize  each  other,  by  changing  each  other's  tint,  thereby  mak- 
ing a  compound  tint,  different  from  either  of  the  original  tints. 
This  is  called  in  modern  language,  "  breaking  of  colours, 
and  is  one  of  the  grand  arts  of  painters. 

Marcus  Antoninus  uses  the  word  Baptize,  both  in  a  good  and 
in  a  bad  sense.  A  mind  imbued  with  justice  is  improved,  as 
dyed  ivory  acquires  a  more  splendid  colour :  but  a  mind  that 
stains,  pollutes  itself  in  its  own  phantasies  or  wandering  ima- 
ginations, is  discoloured,  deteriorated  by  mixture,  and  is  the 
worse  for  such  baptism ;  it  is  no  longer  itself.  This  perhaps 
elicits  the  origin  of  that  seemingly  strange  and  erroneous 
version  of  the  lxx  hitherto  found  unaccountable.  "  Iniquity 
baptizes  me  ;  it  terrifies  me  so,  that  I  am  beside  myself."  My 
mind  is  alienated,  changed  from  what  it  was  ;  corrupted  by 
the  force  of  terror :  which  is  coincident  with  the  sense  of 
our'  English  version,  Isaiah  xxi.  4  ;  "  Fearfulness,  rather  the 
cause  of  fearfulness,  affrighteth  me." 

Aristophanes  in  Plato,  in  the  sixth  quotation,  may  refer  to 
a  person  no  longer  himself,  through  alienation  of  mind,  by 
the  force  of  liquor.  It  is  certain  that  Bapsei  is  used  in  asso- 
ciation with  pthoras,  and  to  the  same  effect :  now  diaphthora, 
diaphthareises,kataphthora,  all  from  the  same  root,  express  the 
condition  of  a  man — "  deprived  of  his  reason  in  consequence 
of  intoxication  ;"  in  confusion  and  perturbation  of  mind.  If 
then  these  words  are  employed  in  conjunction  and  conformity 
with  Bapsai,  used  metaphorically  to  express  corruption,  dis- 
coloration of  mind  ;  why  may  not  Bapsai,  equally  with  them, 
also  import  perturbation  of  mind,  whether  from  intoxication  or 
from  terror  ? — What  now  becomes  of  plunging  ?  Is  that  the 
only  Avay  in  which  a  person  may  prove  "  beside  himself?" 


130  MODE  OP  BAPTISM, 

V.  BAPTISM  IN  THE  SENSE  OF  POURING  ; 


MEANING   THE 


DESCENT  OR  AFFUSION 


CONSIDERABLE  QUANTITY  OF  WATER, 

As  I  have  elsewhere  explained  the  nature  of  Baptism  by 
pouring,  especially  by  the  affusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  shall 
merely  allot  a  few  words  to  the  texts  alluded  to  by  the 
Baptists. 

1.  Judith  xii.  7.  "  She  washcd,hdX\\edi  or  immersed  herself  in 
a  fountain,  s^umil^eTO."  The  indecency  of  this  rendering  is 
enormous,  if  taken  in  the  sense  of  plunging  ! !  When  it  is 
said,  "  She  went  out,  and  was  baptized  at  the  spring  of  Avater 
that  was  in  the  camp  ;"  can  we  possibly  suppose,  that  she 
was  plunged  into  the  supply  of  water  for  an  army  of  two 
hundred  thousand  men  1  Would  theij  have  suflered  it,  who 
were  to  drink  the  water  after  her  ablution  ?  Would  she  en- 
dure it,  whose  scheme  demanded  the  closest  privacy,  for 
three  or  four  days  only,  and  would  have  been  totally  ruined 
by  such  immodesty  ? 

The  notion  can  have  originated  only  in  total  ignorance  of 
the  country ;  for  D'Ohsson  says  expressly,  speaking  of  the 
women's  baths  in  the  '^East  — "  They  scarcely  ever  immerse 
their  bodies  in  water :  the  large  marble  urns  which  are  in  the 
form  of  bathing-tubs  are  for  invalids.  The  strictest  decency 
is  observed."  Now  if  where  every  thing  is  prepared  and  all 
conveniences  are  at  hand  for  the  purpose,  the  women  scarcely 
ever  immerse  their  bodies  in  water,  how  can  we  suppose  that 
Judith  would  be  plunged  in  an  open  fountain,  in  the  midst  of 
a  camp  of  soldiers  ? 

Denon,  describing  a  bath  of  the  men  in  Egypt,  says,  "  The 
bather  .  .  is  inundated  with  water" — plunging  !  or  at  least 
immersion  !  but  the  next  words  dissipate  the  delusion — "  which 
the  attendants  take  out  with  a  small  basin,  and  four  over  his 
body."  But  we  cannot  suppose  that  Judith  was  baptized  in 
this  exposed  manner,  or  that  water  was  poured  over  her  whole 
body  at  the  spring  of  water  in  the  camp. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  131 

That  Judith  performed  her  ablutions  by  having  water  pour- 
ed on  her  hands  is  sufficiently  credible.  The  manner  of 
Avhich  service  is  thus  : — "  A  copper  vessel  is  placed  before 
the  person,  sitting  on  a  piece  of  red  cloth,  to  prevent  the 
carpet  or  mat  from  being  wet :  a  servant  kneeling  on  the 
groimd,  pours  out  water  for  his  master ;  another  holds  a  cloth 
destined  for  those  purifications.  The  person  begins  by  baring 
his  arm  as  far  as  the  elbow,  then  washes  his  hands,  mouth, 
nostrils,  face,  arras,"  &c. — D'Ohsson. 

This  is  exactly  what  the  Pharisees  expected  from  our 
Lord.  They  wondered  that  he  had  not  been  baptized  before 
dinner ;  that  he  had  not  had  water  poured  on  his  hands,  for 
the  purpose  of  purification.  Thus  Elisha  poured  water  on 
the  hands  of  Ehjah  ;  in  other  words,  he  baptized  him. 

The  remark  applies  also  to  other  passages  and  facts  of 
Scripture. 

2.  With  respect  to  the  Pharisees  wondering  that  our  Lord 
had  not  bathed  before  dinner  ;  see  Campbell  on  John  xiii.  10. 

3.  It  is  also  used  with  reference  to  the  Israelites  passing 
through  the  sea,  and  under  the  cloud,  1  Cor.  x.  2,  when  they 
were  baptized  unto  Moses,  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea.  It 
would  have  been  madness  to  follow  him  into  such  a  situation, 
had  they  not  been  assured  of  his  divine  mission.  Exod.  xiv. 
19  ;  XV.  8.  The  water  pouring  from  the  cloud  baptized  the 
Israelites. 

4.  Mark  vii.  4.  The  Immersion  of  cups,  pots,  brazen  ves- 
sels, and  tables.     Refer  to  Gill  on  that  place. 

5.  Mark  vii.  8.  The  tradition  of  men,  as  the  immersion 
of  pots  and  cups.  Cups,  pots,  and  tables  were  baptized  then 
as  they  are  now,  by  having  water  poured  upon  them.  The 
term  "  tradition  of  men'''  refers  to  some  established  order  and 
ceremony  in  the  ablutions.     It  still  exists  in  the  East. 

6.  Describing  the  purification  of  the  people  at  Sin,  Jose- 
phus  says  ;  "  when  persons  were  defiled  by  a  dead  body,  they 
put  a  little  of  these  ashes  into  spring  water  with  hyssop,  and 
fiunriaai'Teg,  baptizing,  dipping  or  immersing  part  of  these 
ashes  into  it,  eQQuivov,  they  sprinkled  them  Avith  it."  Lib.  iv. 
C.  iv.  ^  6.  This  quotation,  say  the  Baptists,  clearly  shows 
the  difference  between  baptizing  or  dipping,  and  rhantizing  or 
sprinkling. 

I  maintain  the  contrary.  Does  Josephus  really  say,  "  they 
immerse  those  ashes  into  the  water  ?" — Then  his  order  of  the 
rite  contradicts  the  express  directions  of  his  master  Moses, 
who  enjoins  that  they  pour  the  water  to  the  ashes :  "  They 


132  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

shall  take  of  the  ashes  of  the  burnt  heifer,  and  running  water 
shall  bo  put  THERKTO,  in  a  vessel."  Numb.  xix.  J 7.  The 
ashes  were  baptized  by  the  water  put  /o  them. 

7.  One  passage  is  prodviccd  from  Origen,  on  which  more 
stress  is  laid  than  on  all  others,  in  Avhich  he  speaks  of  the 
wood  of  Elijah's  sacrifice  as  being  haptizcd,  though  the  wood 
was  certainly  not  dipped  in  water,  but  four  barrels  of  water  were 
poured  upon  it  three  times  over.  Read  the  account  in  1  Kings, 
xviii.  32 — 35.  Consider  the  object  of  the  prophet,  to  prevent 
all  possibility  of  collusion,  and  then  say,  if  Origen  had  written 
English,  might  he  not  have  used  the  word  immerse  with  pro- 
priety, and  without  rendering  its  usual  meaning  ambiguous  ? 
Would  not  our  opponents  think  such  a  three-fold  soaking  as 
bad  as  even  a  "  trine  immersion  ?" 

Any  child  may  detect  this  silly  evasion.  The  question  is 
this  :  "By  what  action  were  those  faggots  soaked  ?"  They 
answer :   "  The  quantity  of  water  was  great." 

Origen  was  speaking  of  John's  baptism,  and  considering 
him  as  the  Elias  who  was  to  come,  he  says  :  "  How  came 
you  to  think  that  Elias,  when  he  should  come,  would  baptize? 
who  did  not  in  Ahab's  time,  baptize  the  wood  upon  the  altar, 
but  ordered  the  priests  to  do  that.  Not  only  once,  says  he, 
but  do  it  a  second  time,  and  they  did  it  the  second  time.  He 
therefore,  who  did  not  hxmseM  -baptize,  but  assigned  the 
work  to  others,"  &c.  The  comparison  shows,  that  as 
water  was  poured  on  the  wood  by  order  of  Elijah  ;  so  John 
the  Baptist  poured  water  on  the  people  who  received  his 
Baptism.  Elijah  ordered  it  to  be  done  by  others  :  whereas 
John  poured  the  water  himself. 

VI.  BAPTISM  IN  THE  SENSE  OF  SPRINKLING; 

MEANING  THE 

DESCENT  OR  AFFUSION 

OF  A 

SMALL  QUANTITY  OF  WATER, 

OFTEN  BY  WAY  OF 

RITUAL    OBSERVANCE    ONLY. 

\.  Nebuchadnezzar  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven.  Daniel 
iv.  33;  and  V.  21. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  133 

That  the  dew  of  heaven  descended  on  Nebuchadnezzar  is 
as  clear,  as  that  it  ever  descended  on  any  grass  of  any  meadow 
under  heaven.  Who  has  not  read  of"  dew-besprinkled  grass  ?" 
Such  is  the  progress  or  action  of  dew.  As  to  the  quantity  of 
dew  that  then  descended  at  Babylon,  it  is  not  now  remarkable  ; 
for  if  it  were  so,  no  doubt  but  INIr.  Rich  would  have  noticed 
it.  He  mentions  gardens  and  cultivation  at  Babylon  ;  but  says 
nothing  of  dews.     Memoir  on  the  Ruins  of  Babylon. 

2.  Ecclesiasticus  xxxiv.  25.  "  He  that  waslieth  himself  from 
a  dead  body.  He  was  to  bathe  himself  in  water.  Num.  xix. 
19  ;    ^ami^ouBro;  ano  vsxqov.^' 

Moses  gives  these  directions  :  Numbers  xix.  11,20. — "He 
that  toucheth  the  dead  body  of  any  man,  he  shall  be  unclean 
seven  days.  He  shall  purify  himself  with  it,  the  ashes  of  the 
heifer,  on  the  third  day,  and  on  the  seventh  day :  so  shall  he 
be  clean ;  but  if  he  purify  not  himself  on  the  third  day,  then 
on  the  seventh  day  he  shall  not  be  clean.  Whosoever 
toucheth  the  body  of  any  man  that  is  dead,  and  purifieth 
not  himself,  on  the  third  day,  and  on  the  seventh  day,  he 
defileth  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  ;  and  that  soul  shall  be 
cnt  off  from  Israel,  because  the  water  of  separation  was  not 
SPRINKLED  upon  him  :  he  shall  be  unclean  :  his  uncleanness 

IS   YET  UPON   him And  for   an  unclean   person  they  shall 

take  of  the  ashes  of  the  burnt  heifer  of  purification  for  sin, 
and  running  water  shall  be  put  thereto  in  a  vessel ;  and  a 
clean  person  shall  take  hyssop,  and  dip  it  in  the  water,  and 
sprinkle  it  upon  the  tent,  and  upon  all  f^e  vessels,  and  upon 
the  persons  that  were  there,  and  upon  him  that  touched  a  bone, 
or  one  slain,  or  one  dead,  or  a  grave.  And  the  clean  person  shall 
sprinkle  upon  the  unclean  on  the  third  day,  and  on  the  seventh 
day ;  and  on  the  seventh  day  he,  the  unclean  person,  shall 
purify  himself,  and  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  himself  in 
water,  and  shall  be  clean  at  even.  But  the  man  that  shall 
be  unclean,  and  shall  not  purify  himself,  that  soul  shall  be 
cut  off  from  among  the  congregation  :  because  he  hath  defiled 
the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord; — the  water  of  separation  hath 
not  been  sprinkled  upon  him:    he  is  unclean." 

Nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  this  service  divides  into  two 
parts.  'i']\G  first  performed  by  the  unclean  person  himself. 
He  was  to  wash  himself,  and  to  bathe  himself  thoroughly  in 
water:  and  secondly,  a  clean  person,  it  is  not  said /jn'e.s/  or 
Levite,  but  a  clean  person,  shall  sprinkle  on  the  unclean  the 
water  of  separation.  Until  the  very  moment  that  the  water 
of  separation  is   sprinkled  upon  him,  he  is   unclean.     He 

13 


J34  MODE  OF  nAPTISM. 

may  wash  himself  times  without  number,  in  any  imaginable 
profusion  of  water,  all  goes  for  nothing.  He  is  unclean  till 
tlio  ashes  of  the  heifer  sprinkle  his  jlesh.  The  virtue  of 
efi'ectiial  purification  resides  in  them  only.  Let  us  examine 
the  comparison  intended  by  the  writer  of  the  Ecclesiasticus. 

"  A  man  who  fasteth  for  his  sins,  and  goellt  again  and 
doeth  the  same  : — who  will  hear  his  prayer  ?  or  what  doth 
his  hiiinbliiig  profit  him  ?  So  he  who  has  been  baptized 
Irom  a  dead  body,  and  again  toucheth  it,  of  what  use  is  his 
washing  V 

The  word  "  washing"  must  mean  his  washing  of  himself: 
for  nobody  else  washed  him.  The  word  baptism  cannot  mean 
this  washing  ;  for  baptism  was  performed  by  another  person, 
a  clean  person  ;  not  by  himself.  It  therefore  is  not  the  same 
action. 

The  words  baptism  and  washing  are  obviously  set  in  con- 
tradistinction, expressing  the  difi'erent  parts  of  the  rite.  A 
man  was  not  clean  by  washing  himself.  Moses  takes  special 
care  to  repeat  tlii-ee  or  four  times,  that  he  is  unclean  uport 
whom  the  sprinkling  had  not  passed  on  the  third  day,  as  Avell 
as  on  the  seventh.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  Apostle  ;  Heb. 
ix.  13;  who  calls  the  person  unclean,  that  was  not  yet 
sprinkled  by  the  ashes  of  the  heifer.  Now  the  comparison 
employed  by  the  writer  of  the  Ecclesiasticus  demands,  that  the 
person  be  in  some  sense  clean,  how  else  could  his  renewing 
the  cause  of  his  uncleanness  renew  his  unclean  state  ? — How 
could  he  be  compared  to  a  relapsed  penitent  ? 

It  is  obvious,  that  if  the  person  who  had  been  baptized  on 
the  third  day  should  on  the  fourth  day  again  touch  a  dead 
body,  he  would  not  be  clean  on  the  seventh  day,  how  scrupu- 
lously soever  he  might  wash  and  bathe  himself. 

This  is  confirmed  beyond  denial  by  the  language  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  who  certainly  imderstood  ihe  rituals 
of  their  country.  There  were  divers  kinds  of  baptisms,  says 
the  Apostle;  Heb.  ix.  10;  and  he  specifies  two  of  these 
kinds — baptism  by  blood  ;  and  baptism  by  water.  Of  these 
he  selects  three  rites  :  and  what  is  beyond  measure  extraordi- 
nary on  the  hypothesis  of  the  Baptists  ;  ALL  those  three 
RITES  ARE  SPRINKLINGS. 

I  know  no  other  occasion  on  which  the  bloods  of  bulls  and  of 
goats  were  used  together,  as  they  were  combined  on  the 
great  day  of  Expiations.  What  were  the  directions  for  that 
day's  service?  Leviticus  xvi.  14,15; — "  Aaron  shall  take 
of  the  blood  of  the  bullock,  and   sprinkle  it  with  his  fnger 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM-  135 

Upon  the  mercy  seat  eastward ;  and  before  the  mercy  seat 
shall  he  sprinkle  of  the  blood  with  his  finger  seven  times." 

■"  Then  shall  he  kill  the  goat  of  the  sin-offering  that  is  for 
the  people,  and  bring  his  blood  within  the  vail,  and  do  with 
that  blood  as  he  did  with  the  blood  of  the  bullock,  and 
SPRINKLE  it  upon  the  mercy  seat,  and  before  the  mercy  seat." 

The  Apostle's  aaixision  is  to  this  service  ;  Hebrews  ix.  6, 
14  ;  for  his  theme  is  the  Mosaic  Tabernacle.  He  says,  "  the 
priests  went  into  the  first  or  outer  tabernacle  daily  :  but  into 
tlie  second  apartment,  went  the  high  priest  alone  once  every 
year,  not  without  blood,  which  he  offered  for  himself,  and  for 
the  errors  of  the  people — a  figure  for  the  time  then  present, 
in  which  were  offered  gifts  and  sacrifices,  meats  and  drinks, 
and  divers  kinds  of  baptisms  : — the  blood  of  bulls,  and  of 
goats,  and  the  ashes  of  a  heifer  sprinkling  the  unclean." 

There  is  nothing  in  the  Apostle's  discourse  to  which  it  is 
possible  to  refer  this  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  except  to  the 
great  day  of  Expiation, 

There  is  no  action  to  which  those  sprinklings  of.biood,  call- 
ed baptisms,  can  be  referred,  but  to  the  sprinklings  by  Aaron. 

Thus  the  writer  of  the  Ecclesiasticus  is  not  singular  in  de- 
scribing the  action  of  sprinkling  under  the  term  baptism. 

Now  we  are  prepared  to  understand  the  true  reference  of 
the  Apostle's  words:  Hebrews  vi.  1,  2  ;  "  Leaving  first  prin- 
ciples, let  us  go  on  unto  perfection  :  not  laying  again  the 
foundation  of  the  doctrine  of  baptisms,  and  of  laying  on  of 
hands." 

*'  The  doctrine  of  Jewish  baptisms,"  say  some  ; — ^but  the 
Baptists  would  not  choose  that  Jewish  baptisms  should  become 
the  foundation  of  Christian  doctrine.  "  The  baptism  by 
water,  and  that  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  say  most ; — but  this 
cannot  be.  What  doctrine  was  connected  with  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?  Was  this  gift  imparted  to  all  ?  to  women  ? — 
We  do  not  even  know  in  what  it  consisted  :  and  if  it  be 
alluded  to  in  this  passage,  it  is  included  in  the  subsequent 
term  "  laying  on  of  hands,"  which  ceremony  always  pre- 
ceded it,* 


•  The  present  Abyssinian  method  of  baptism  elucidates  the  subject 
contained  in  the  phrase  "  the  dodriiie  of  baptisms" — for  in  what  does 
the  baptism  of  the  Mussulman  Boy,  narrated  by  JNlr.  Salt,  p.  144,  essen- 
tially differ,  from  the  ancient  mode  of  Jewish  baptism.  First,  the 
person  rendered  unclean  by  touching  the  dead  body  was  to  wash  and 
bathe  himself,  thoroughly  in  water.  Thus  the  convert  from  JMoham- 
medism,  spoken  of  by  IVlr.  Salt,  was  "  washed  all  over  very  carefully  in 


136  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

But  the  baptisms  concerning  which  Jocirine  was  delivered  to 
converts  were  these ;  the  washing  oi  the  person,  signifying  death 
unto  sin  ;  and  the  pouring  of  water,  signifying  consecration 
unto  a  renewed  life.  These  lay  at  the  foundation  of  Chris- 
tianity. They  were  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 
These  it  was  necessary  to  learn  and  to  practice  ;  but  it  was 
injurious  to  rest  satisfied  only  with  acquaintance  with  them. 
Neither  is  it  possible,  unless  the  plural  baptisms  here  mentioned 
coalesced  into  one  rite,  to  vindicate  the  accuracy  of  the 
apostle,  who  says  Eph.  iv.  5  ;  "  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  ONE 
Baptism." 

Thus  John  the  Baptist  might  easily  baptize  a  thousand 
persons  in  succession  ;  but  he  required  several  streams,  in 
which  many  might  be  bathing  themselves  or  others,  at  the 
same  time  ;  to  whom  as  they  approached  him  he  administered 
Baptism  by  pouring. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  admitting,  that  three  thousand  per- 
sons might  thus  be  added  to  the  Church  by  Baptism  in  one 
day  :  since  those  who  administered  the  ritual  pouring  had  no 
occasion  to  engage  in  the  previous  washing. 

Respecting  the  interval  marked  by  Luke  between  the  im- 
mersion of  the  Eunuch  and  his  baptism  by  Philip,  Acts  viii. 
36  —  38  ;  it  has  been  stated  that  the  Syriac  and  Arabic  ver- 
sions are  silent  on  this  particular.  I  answer,  Luke  certainly 
"  knew  the  customary  separation  between  immersion  and 
baptism ;"  he  must  have  known  it,  or  he  must  have  been  to- 
tally ignorant  of  the  rite  of  baptism  on  account  of  pollution 
by  the  dead  ;  which  from  the  frequency  of  its  occurrence  was 
impossible.  His  language,  marking  a  separation  of  the  two 
actions,  is  strictly  coincident  with  that  established  custom. 
What  is  there  extraordinary  or  unnatural  in  it  ? 

Justin  Martyr,  describing  Baptism,  A.  D.  140,  says:  "I 
will  now  declare  to  you  after  what  manner  we  being  made 
anew  by  Christ,  have  dedicated  ourselves  to  God.  We 
bring  converts  to  some  place  where  there  is  water,  and  they 
are  regenerated  by  the  same  way  of  regeneration  by  which  we 
M-ere  regenerated  ;  for  they  are  washed  with  water  in  the  name 
of  God  the  Father  and  Lord  of  all  things,  and  of  our  Saviour 


a  large  bason  of  toatcr."  Next,  the  ritual  baptism  or  sprinkling  else- 
where was  performed  by  a  clean  person,  as  a  distinct- action,  yet  it 
was  part  of  the  same  rile — so  the  Abyssinian  youthful  candidate  was 
baptized  from  another  font,  in  another  place.  The  actions  were  dis- 
tinct, although  the  rite  was  ONE. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  137 

Jesus  Clirist,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  same  Justin  also 
says,  that  sprinkling  with  Holy  Water  "  was  invented  by 
Daemons,  in  imitation  of  the  true  Baptism,  signified  by  the 
prophets,  that  their  votaries,  those  of  the  Daemons,  might  also 
have  their  pretended  purifications  by  water."  If  the  Heathen 
SPRINKLINGS  imitated  the  true  Baptism,  then  the  true  Baptism 
included  sprinkling  ;  for  if  there  was  not  sprinkling,  there 
could  not  be  any  imitation. 

There  is  a  passage  in  the  Epistles  of  Cyprian  to  Magnus, 
Ep.  76,  A.  D.  250,  which  seems  to  tiurn  on  this  distinction 
of  the  rite  into  two  parts.  A  difficulty  was  started,  whether 
a  person,  who  being  sick  in  his  bed,  received  baptism  by 
sprinkling  or  by  pouring,  only,  ought  to  be  considered  as 
completely  baptized.  Cyprian  pleads,  that  where  the  faith 
was  complete,  this  baptism  also  was  complete  ;  and  might  be 
admitted  as  entire  and  valid.  He  supports  his  opinion  by 
reference  to  the  purifications  or  baptismal  sprinklings,  under 
the  Mosaic  law.  But  knowing  that  in  the  customary  mode 
of  baptism,  the  ritual  sprinkling  was  preceded  by  a  thorough 
Avashing  of  the  person,  he  adds  ;  "  If  any  one  shall  think 
that  they  are  not  at  all  benefited,  who  have  been  only  be- 
sprinkled with  the  water  of  salvation,  without  previous  wash- 
ing, let  them  not  be  imposed  on ;  and  if  they,  the  sick,  re- 
cover ;  let  them  be  baptized,  undergo  the  customary  washing. 
But  if  they  cannot  with  propriety  be  baptized  by  the  custo- 
mary wasliing,  because  that  always  preceded  ritual  sprink- 
ling, and  never  followed  it,  as  having  been  already  sanctified 
with  the  ecclesiastical  baptism,  the  ritual  sprinkling,  why 
are  they  distressed  with  scruples  ? 

Unless  the  rite  were  divided  into  two  parts,  where  is  the 
possibility  of  any  persons  supposing,  that  sanctification  with 
ecclesiastical  baptism  was  in  any  respect  imperfect  ?  How 
could  such  expect  to  render  perfect  what  they  had  received, 
by  any  addition  whatever,  unless  they  understood  that  addi- 
tion to  be  a  part  of  the  same  identical  rite  in  its  complete 
state  ?  And  how  could  Cyprian  allow  a  second  baptism,  who 
well  knew  that  ONE  baptism  only  was  enjoined  upon  be- 
lievers ?* 


*  AnahaptUm- — The  following  is  the  only  instance  I  have  found. 
From  Cyprian's  observation  it  seems  not  to  be  altogether  singular;  and 
probably  it  may  be  referred  to  his  time:  but  Correctors  are  mentioned 
in  the  ensuing  example  as  early  as  A.  D.  117.  If  Zoilus  were  a  public 
officer,  sent  purposely  into  Sicily  to  obstruct  the  progress  of  Christianity, 
it  may  account  for  his  wife,  a  zealous  Christian,  being  sent  to  a  private 

12* 


138  MODE  OF  nAPTISM. 

That  these  two  ideas  were  included  in  the  rite  of  Baptism 
as  late  as  Augustin's   days,  A.   D.  388,  is   evident  from  the 

country  village;  and  for  the  baptism  of  her  child,  performed  imperfect- 
ly, certainly  not  regislered  among  the  faithfuls,  in  such  concealment. 
During  the  eighteen  months  of  the  child's  life,  the  persecution  might 
somewhat  remit,  at  least  so  far  as  Zoiius  was  concerned,  who  ajipears  at 
last  to  have  consented  to  the  regular  buptism  of  the  infant,  at  the  earn- 
est desire  of  his  wife;  and  who  also  solicited  that  dangerous  favour 
from  the  Christian  presbyter.  The  language  of  the  original  is  very 
awkward;  but  the  general  sense  is  obvious. 

"  Nilai  Florentinae  infanti  dulcissimae  atq.  Innocentissimae  Fidkli 
Factae  Parens  conlocavit  quae  Pridie  nonas  martias  ante  lucem  pagana 
nata  Zoilo  corre.  mense  Octavo  Decimo  et  vicesima  secunda  die  com- 
pletis  FiDELis  facta  Hora  noctis  octava  ultimum  Spiritum  agens  supc''- 
vixit  Horis  quatuor  ita  ut  consueta  repeteret  ac  de  functa  Hyble  hora 
diei  prima  Septimum  Kal  Octobris  cuius  occasum  cum  uterq.  Parens 
omni  memento  Heret  per  noctem  majestatis  vox  extitit  quae  defunctam 
lamentari  prohiberet  cuius  corpus  pro  foribus  Mart.  Xrorum  cum  loculo 
suo  per  presbiterum  Humatu  e  IIII.  non  octobr. —  Muratori ;  Sicilice 
Iriscriflionum. 

"  To  Nila  Florentina,  a  most  sweet  and  innocent  infant,  made  a 
FAITHFUL  by  her  parent,  placed  with  her  in  a  country  seclusion.  She 
was  born  the  first  of  the  nones  of  March,  before  day-light,  daughter  of 
Zoiius  the  Corrector:  having  completed  eighteen  months  and  twenty- 
two  days,  she  was  again  m.^df.  a  faithful,  at  the  eighth  liour  of  the 
night,  at  the  last  extremity  of  life:  she  lived  afterwards  but  four  hours  : 
the  rite  having  been  performed  according  to  custom,  she  died  at  Ilybla, 
the  first  hour  of  the  day,  the  seventh  of  the  calends  of  October;  on 
which  decease  her  paretUs  wept  with  each  other  every  moment  of  the 
night:  open  lamentation  for  the  ChrisLiau  dead  being  prohibited  as  trea- 
son. Her  corpse,  with  its  colIJn,  by  the  presbyters,  was  interred  in 
the  burying-place  of  the  Christian  martyrs  ;  the  fourth  of  the  nones  of 
October." 

This  case  is  precisely  that  supposed  by  the  Apostle,  1  Cor.  vii.  14,  a 
heathen  husband,  and  a  Christian  wife.  Whose  creed  shall  the  child 
follow,  Zoiius,  a  public  officer  viusl  comply  with  the  religion  of  his 
country;  his  child  therefore  Mlowing  its  father,  must  be  dedicated  to 
idols  and  become  an  idolater.  Or  following  the  mother,  may  it  be  dedi- 
cated to  the  Trinity  %  to  Jehovah  rather  than  to  Jupiter  1  It  mnsl  be  to 
either  one  or  the  other  ; — It  is  either  unclean  or  holy-  The  Apostle 
says;  "  If  cither  parent  be  a  faithful,  the  child  is  holy."  Such  is  the 
Christian  practice.  I  shall  therefore  cause  it  to  be  baptized,  said  the 
mother. 

This  is  Tertullian's  view  of  the  Apostle's  direction— He  says  ;  De 
Anima  ;  "  The  superstition  of  the  Romans  place  the  fcjetus  in  the  womb 
under  the  protection  of  the  goddess  Alcmena;  under  Partula,  who  pre- 
sides over  delivery;  under  Lucina,  who  brings  forth  children  to  the 
light.  At  the  birth,  Lucina  and  Diana  are  invoked,  and  its  bodily  frame 
is  consecrated  to  the  goddess  Statina.  What  vows  to  avert  evil  from 
its  head  !  Us  hair  is  cut  ofi'or  it  is  shaved  off  solemnly  ;  or  it  is  bound 
up  as  an  offering;  or  it  is  sealed  up  as  devoted;  to  comply  with  a  na- 
tional custom;  withtliat  of  the  parentage;  with  public  or  private  devo- 
tion.    Not  a  birth  can  be  otherwise  than  unclean  among  the  heathen. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  139 

different  opinions  which  then  were  held.  "  Some  said,  they 
are  baptized,  not  for  forgiveness  of  sin— but  that  they  may- 
be made  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven." — "  A  Httle  while 
ago,  says  Angustin,  when  I  was  at  Carthage,  I  cursorily  heard 
some  transient  discourse  of  some  people  who  were  talking, 
that  infants  are  not  baptized  for  remission  of  sins  ;  but  they 
were  baptized,  that  they  may  be  sanctified  to  Christ."  This 
he  thought  a  novelty  ;  and  his  opinion,  that  original  sin  was 
"  remitted"  at  baptism,  doubtless  prevailed  with  those  who 
gradually  contracted  the  entire  rite  into  immersion  only  ;  while 
those  who  deemed  that  consecration  to  Christ,  he  should  have 
said  to  the  Trinity,  was  the  object  of  baptism,  contracted  the 
whole  rite  into  pouring  only.  He  is  not  far  from  right,  when 
on  a  dilferent  branch  of  the  subject,  he  says — "  If  each  party 
^vould  grant  to  the  other  what  they  urge  of  truth,  they  would 
both  hold  the  whole  truth." 

Hence  it  is  clear,  that  the  Baptist  quotations  do  not  support 
their  own  hypothesis — that  Bumix),  Eft8oinToj,  and  Banna/uog, 
mean  exclusively,  plunging  the  person  or  thing  into  and  under 
vrater — for  the  preceding  list  of  passages  adduced  by  them- 
selves furnish  three  to  one  against  it  ;  but  had  the  collection 
been  extended,  the  proportion  would  have  been  about  one  in 
ten  for  the  sense  of  plunging,  and  nine  out  of  ten  against  it,  in 
the  other  senses  which  appertain  to  the  generic  term. 

The  fact  appears  to  be  tliis.  The  population  of  the  coun- 
tries had  embraced  the  faith  of  Christ  so  very  generally,  that 
converts  from  heathenism  becoming  unusual,  the  rite  proper 
to  them  gradually  lost  its  application  ;  and  thus,  "  the  death 
unto  sin,"  Idolatry,  &c.,  no  longer  possessing  any  reference 
to  infants  born  of  Christian  parents,  its  ritual  representative, 
immersion,  declined  into  oblivion  ;  while  pouring,  as  the  sign 
of  "  newness  of  life"  or  consecration  to  the  Trinity,  was 
continued  ;  such  consecration  being  the  intention  of  parents 
on  behalf  of  their  infants. 

Thus  we  have  traced  the  two  branches  of  Baptism,  from 
the  Mosaic  institution  of  ceremonial  cleansing  from  pollution 
by  a  dead  body,  which  consisted  of  washing  and  sprinlding. 
It  is  so  divided  by  the  writer  of  the  Ecclesiasticus.  It  was 
practised  as  a  double  rite  by  John  in  his  Baptism.  Christian 
Baptism  is  described  as  a  double  rite  by  the  Apostle  Peter — 


Hinc  enim  et  Apostolus  ex  sanctijlcato  alterutro  sexu  sanctos  procreari 
ait-  Hence,  says  the  Apostle,  either  parent's  issue,  that  parent  being 
HOLY,  is  also  HOLY,  by  privilege  of  descent. 


140  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

by  the  Apostle  Paul,  frequently  ;  wlio  also  expressly  calls  the 
sprinkling  part  of  the  Mosaic  rite,  baptism.  It  Avas  under- 
stood to  be  double  by  Luke.  It  is  described  as  double  by 
Justin  Martyr.  It  is  so  represented  in  all  the  ancient  pictures 
known,  from  the  second  to  the  fifth  century.  We  find  it  al- 
luded to  by  Cyprian  and  by  Augustin,  in  terms  implying  the 
same  division :  and  it  is  still  practised  in  the  same  division 
by  the  Abyssinians  who  received  it  from  the  church  at  Alex- 
andria, A.  D.  313.* 

I  have  often  pitied  that  ill-judged  zeal  by  which  Christian- 
ity has  been  set  in  opposition  to  the  religion  of  the  Jews. 
Our  Lord  declares  that  "  he  came  to  fulfil  the  law  and  the 
prophets ;"  and  that  heaven  and  earth  w^ere  not  more  fixed 
and  permanent  than  the  Divine  Institutions  of  ancient  times. 
He  was  rather  a  reformer  than  an  institutor  ;  for  he  perfect- 
ed what  he  found  existing. 

A  Parable  was  a  Jewish  mode  of  teaching: — Who  taught 
by  parables,  equal  to  Jesus  Christ  ?  What  is  the  most  dis- 
tinguished and  appropriate  rite  of  his  religion,  but  a  service 
grafted  on  the  passover  customs  among  the  Jews  of  his  day  1 
It  was  not  ordained  by  Moses,  that  a  part  of  the  bread  they 
had  used  in  the  passover  should  be  the  last  thing  they  ate, 
after  that  supper ;  yet  this  our  Lord  took  and  converted  into 
a  memorial  of  his  body.  The  "  cup  of  blessing"  has  no  au- 
thority whatever  from  the  original  institution,  yet  our  Lord 
found  it  in  use  and  adopted  it  as  a  memorial  of  his  blood  : — 
and  taken  together,  these  elements  form  one  commemoration 
of  his  death.  We  therefore  infer  that  whatever  rite  Jesus  ap- 
pointed as  the  ordinance  of  admission  into  the  community  of 
his  followers,  he  would  also  adopt  from  some  service  already 


•  The  Church  at  Alexandria,  originally  planled  by  Mark  the  Evan- 
gelist, consisted  oi  Hebrew  Christians;  whose  national  manners  might 
easily  be  preserved  in  a  country,  of  which  Mr.  Salt  says  :  "  The  read- 
er conversant  in  Scripture,  cannot  fail  to  remark  the  general  resena- 
blance  existing  throughout  between  the  manners  of  this  people,  the 
Abyssinians,  and  those  of  the  Jews  previously  to  the  reign  of  Solo- 
mon ;  at  which  period,  the  connections  entered  into  by  the  latter  with 
foreign  princes,  and  tli^  luxuries  consequently  introduced,  seem  in  a 
great  measure  to  have  altered  the  Jewish  character.  I  was  so  much 
struck  with  the  similarity  between  the  two  nations,  during  my  stay  in 
Abyssinia,  that  I  could  not  help  fancying  at  times  that  I  was  dwelling 
among  the  Israelites ;  and  that  I  had  fallen  back  some  thousand  years, 
upon  a  period  when  the  king  himself  was  a  shepherd,  and  the  princes 
of  the  land  went  out,  riding  on  mule.s,  with  spears  and  slings  to  com- 
bat against  the  Philistines." 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  141 

existing,  and  some  token  familiar  among  the  people  of  his 
nation.  A  ceremony  for  the  first  time  heard  of,  would  have 
surprised  and  shocked  them.  It  would  have  acted  as  a  prohi- 
bition on  the  minds  of  a  people  so  remarkably  and  obstinately 
tenacious  of  established  customs  and  notions. 

"  Divers  haptis?ns"  existed  under  the  law ;  and  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe,  that  the  admission  of  proselytes  into 
the  profession  of  Judaism  was  really  and  truly  marked  by  a 
washing  with  water,  in  a  ritual  and  ceremonial  manner.  Mai- 
monides  is  perfectly  correct,  when  he  says  :  "  in  all  ages 
when  a  Heathen,  or  stranger  by  nation,  was  willing  to  enter 
into  the  covenant  of  Israel,  and  gather  himself  under  the  wings 
of  the  Majesty  of  God,  and  take  upon  himself  the  yoke  of  the 
law — he  must  be  circumcised,  and  baptized,  and  bring  a  sac- 
rifice ;  or  if  the  party  were  a  woman,  then  she  must  be  bapti- 
zed, and  bring  a  sacrifice.''^  He  adds,  "  at  the  present  time, 
when  the  temple  being  destroyed,  there  is  no  sacrificing,  a 
stranger  must  be  circumcised  and  baptized." 

The  more  strict  among  the  Jews  described  this  ceremony 
as  a  death  in  a  religious  sense  ;  and  deemed  the  past  life  of 
the  party  to  be  as  distinct  from  his  ensuing  life,  as  the  lives 
of  two  separate  persons  could  be.  They  even  showed  their 
conviction  of  his  not  being  the  same  person,  by  allowing  him 
to  marry  among  his  former  relatives,  within  the  degrees  of 
kin  prohibited  by  the  law.  They  gave  rules  for  the  per- 
formance of  this  initiatoiy  rite ;  and  caused  it  to  be  strictly 
and  thoroughly  performed,  by  washing  the  person  all  over,  in 
a  bath  or  other  sufficient  quantity  of  water ;  not  less  than  a 
certain  number  of  gallons.  This  was  not  baptism,  correctly 
speaking  ;  for  baptism,  being  a  Greek  term,  could  not  be 
adopted  by  the  Jews  to  express  a  religious  ceremony  prac- 
tised long  before  the  Greek  became  the  prevailing  language 
of  the  East.  It  was  rt'"'':.'!:)  what  the  lxx.  adopted  the 
Greek  word  baptize  to  express  ;  but  that  was  prior  to  the 
days  of  John  and  Jesus.  This  washing  I  call  immersion  : — 
and  its  signification  was  Death. 

Was  such  washing,  or  immersion,  continued  in  the  admin- 
istration of  John's  baptism?  —  !  apprehend  it  was. 

Was  such  IMMERSION  the  whole  of  John's  baptism?     No. 

Was  immersion  of  the  like  kind  continued  among  the  primi- 
tive Christians  ?  Many  expressions  in  the  New  Testament 
have  a  clear  and  unimpeachable  reference  to  that  preparatory 
rite. 


H3  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

The  Apostle  describes  the  Corinthians,  1  Cor.  vi.  11,  as 
being  washed  and  sanctified. 

Having  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water,  Heb.  x.  22  : 
let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  our  faith. 

Christ  sanctified  and  cleansed  the  church,  Eph.  v.  25,  by  the 
WASHING  of  water. 

He  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  Titus  iii.  5, 
and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Does  the  term  baptism  ever  occur  to  express  these  wash- 
ings? Not  that  I  can  discover.  The  nearest  approach  I 
know  of  is  that  by  the  Apostle  Peter.  Baptism  doth  now  save 
us,  NOT  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh ;  1  Pet.  iii.  21, 
but  the  stipulation  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God. 

The  Apostle  evidently  divides  the  rite  into  two  distinct  and 
contrasted  parts  ;  the  first  of  which,  washing,  he  says,  has 
no  consequence  salutary  to  the  party  on  whom  it  is  per- 
formed ;  but  the  second,  an  engagement  to  maintain  a  con- 
science void  oi' offence  toward  God,  is  salutary  to  a  person  of 
whose  solemn  profession  it  forms  a  part.  This  "  stipulation 
of  a  good  conscience  toward  God"  is  of  the  essence  of  bap- 
tism ;  previous  washing  or  immersion,  or  "  putting  away  the 
filth  of  the  flesh"  is  not ;  for  if  it  were  it  would  have  had 
some  salutary  consequence.  At  what  period  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rite  was  this  stipulation  made  ?  Always  after 
washing ;  according  to  the  order  in  which  the  Apostle  Peter 
places  it. 

John  Baptist,  being  the  son  of  a  priest,  perfectly  knew 
what  were  the  established  rhes  and  ceremonies  of  rehgious 
washings ;  but  not  content  with  these,  he  added,  both  by 
word  and  deed,  to  what  was  customary  among  his  people  and 
nation. 

Matthew  iii.  8  ;  He  baptized  unto  repentance.  He  stipulated 
with  the  Pharisees  that  they  should  bring  forth  fruits  meet 
for  repentance. 

Luke  iii.  1 1 .  He  stipulated  with  the  people,  for  benevolence 
and  charity  ;  with  the  publicans,  for  equity  and  moderation  ; 
and  with  the  soldiers,  ior  mildness  and  content. 

These  auditions  were  the  tenor  of  his  admonitions  at  the 
time  of  his  baptismal  administrations.  But  he  did  something 
more  in  action,  something  bearing  a  precise  resemblance  to  the 
pouring  out  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  althouoh  performed  with  wa- 
ter ;  and  on  this  account  he  assimilates  his  own  baptism  to 
that  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  while  he  acknowledged  its  in- 
feriority ;  Sciying,  "  I  am  come  baptizing  with  water  in  order 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  143 

to  manifest  him  to  Israel.  I  saw  the  Spirit  descending  and  re- 
maining on  him;  this  is  he  who  baptizeth— not  with  water, 
bnt  with  divine  and  ineffable  baptism  — with  the  Holy  Ghost. 
This  is  the  Son  of  God !" 

When  the  Pharisees  asked  John,  "  Why  baptizest  thou  ?" 
they  did  not  mean  to  ask  him  "  why  washest  thou  V  That  is 
not  the  term  they  use.  As  a  priest  he  had  authority  to  wash, 
like  other  priests  of  his  nation.  When  our  Lord  asked  the 
Jews  ;  "  VVas  the  baptism  of  John  from  Heaven  or  of  men  ?" 
they  could  have  found  no  embarassment  in  answering  "  from 
men  ;"  had  the  customary  loasliing  oidy  been  in  question. 
The  difficulty  lay  in  admitting  that  John  practised  this  addi- 
tional rite,  baptis7n,  by  revelation  from  Heaven,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  manifesting  the  Messiah ;  yet  when  he  was  mani- 
fested by  John,  the  Rulers  of  the  Jews  persisted  in  denying 
his  mission.  This  only  was  the  point  at  issue,  concerning 
■which  Jesus  could  have  replied,  as  they  foresaw  ;  "  Why  did 
ye  not  believe  him  ?"  This  baptism  then  was  strictly  and 
properly yVom  Heaven.  The  previous  washing,  though  a  cere- 
monial purification,  was  traditional ;  hence,  the  Jews  answered 
in  a  dubious  phraseology,  but  without  violating  truth,  that  they 
could  not  determine  whence  John's  baptism  originated.  By 
this  they  avoided  inflaming  the  people,  and  eluded  the  point 
of  the  question. 

Does  the  New  Testament  afford  any  instance  of  Baptism 
separate  from  immersion  ?  Examine,  as  a  subsequent  act,  the 
instance  of  Philip  and  the  Eunuch  ?  Philip,  in  company  with 
the  Eunuch,  "  came  to  water,  and  he  commanded  the  chariot 
to  stand  still ;  and  they  went  down  both  into  the  water,  here 
is  immersion,  and  he  baptized  him,"  here  is  baptism. 

It  might  be  said,  taking  the  text  for  correct,  that  baptism 
was  distinct  from  immersion,  because  it  followed  it ;  for  the 
writer  does  not  say,  "  they  went  down  into  the  water,  that 
he  might  baptize  him,"  but  — "  and  he  baptized  him."  But  what 
are  the  real  facts  of  the  case  1  In  order  to  preserve  what  he 
knew  to  be  the  customary  separation  between  immersion  and 
baptism,  the  Sacred  Writer  inserts  a  whole  sentence,  in  itself 
perfectly  unnecessary,  and  clogging  the  progress  of  the  story, 
in  the  very  middle  and  height  of  the  sacrament.  It  conveys 
no  additional  information,  but  it  marks  a  pause.  It  distin- 
guishes the  two  parts  of  the  service  —  "  the  putting  away  the 
filth  of  the  flesh,"  from  "  the  stipulation  of  a  good  conscience 
towards  God."  Luke  even  takes  pains  to  produce  this  effect: 
"  And  they  went  down  both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and 


144  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

THE  Eunuch  ;  and  he,  Philip,  baptized  him,  the  Eunuch  ;  and 
when  they  were  come  up,"  &c.  We  knew  both  Philip 
and  the  Eunuch,  from  ihe  former  part  of  the  history ;  but 
the  insertion  of  this  description  of  the  parties,  has  the  ef- 
fect of  separating  the  foregoing  from  the  following  sentence  ; 
and  consequently  of  separating  the  foregoing  from  the  follow- 
ing action,  which  is  the  only  assignable  purpose  of  the  writer 
for  there  inserting  it.  Nor  is  this  the  only  peculiarity  in  the 
story.  No  other  passage  can  be  adduced  in  which  the  per- 
son administering  baptism  went  himself  down  into  the  water. 
John  Baptist  did  not.  Who  did  ?  This  then  is  an  exception 
to  the  general  practice  ;  and  this  took  place  in  a  country  al- 
most or  wholly  desert;  where  no  convenience  of  any  kind 
could  be  commanded  ;  and  those  exceptions  recommended 
the  instance  for  insertion. 

The  Eunuch,  says  Church  History,  carried  the  Gospel 
into  Ethiopia.  Are  there  any  remains  of  this  separation 
between  immersion  and  baptism,  extant  in  Ethiopia  at  this  day  ? 
There  certainly  are.  The  Abyssinian  records  affirm,  that 
Queen  Candace  had  a  palace  at  Axum  ;  where  those  rites  are 
now  practised.  Let  us  contemplate  the  rite  as  described  by 
an  observant  British  traveller,  lately  returned  thence. 

Mr.  Salt,  thus  describes  ih.e  full  ceremony  of  Baptism,  as 
practised  in  Abyssinia. 

"  B.\PTisM  of  a  Mussulman  boy.  —  This  ceremony  took 
place  at  day-break  ;  an  early  hour  being  considered  requisite, 
on  account  of  the  subsequent  celebration  of  the  communion 
which  can  only  be  administered  fasting. 

"  On  reaching  the  church  we  found  the  head  priest,  Abou 
Barea,  with  about  twenty  priests  of  inferior  order,  waiting  in 
a  small  area  about  thirty  yards  from  the  spot ;  some  of  them 
were  engaged  in  chaunting  psalms,  while  the  rest  were  busy 
in  preparing  the  water,  and  making  other  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  the  occasion.  At  sun-rise,  every  thing  being  ready, 
an  attendant  was  sent  round  from  the  high  priest,  to  point  out 
to  each  person  concerned,  the  part  which  he  was  to  take  in 
the  ceremony.  The  officiating  priest  was  habited  in  white 
flowing  robes,  with  a  tiara  or  silver-mounted  cap  on  his  head, 
and  he  carried  a  censer  with  burning  incense  in  his  right 
hand.  A  second  of  equal  rank  was  dressed  in  similar  robes, 
supporting  a  large  golden  cross,  while  a  third  held  in  his  hand 
a  small  phial  containing  a  quantity  of  meirun,  or  consecrated 
oil,  which  is  furnished  to  the  church  of  Abyssinia  by  the  patri- 
arch of  Alexandria.     The  attendant  priests  stood  round  in  the 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  145 

form  of  a  semicircle,  the  boy  being  placed  in  the  centre,  and 
our  party  ranged  in  front.  After  a  few  minutes  interval  em- 
ployed in  singing  psalms,  some  of  the  priests  took  the  boy,  and 
tea  shed  him  all  over  very  carefully  in  a  large  bason  of  water. 
While  this  was  passing  a  smaller  font  called  me-te-mak,  which 
is  always  kept  outside  of  the  churches,  owing  to  an  unbaptized 
person  not  being  permitted  to  enter  the  church,  was  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  area  filled  with  Avater,  which  the  priest 
consecrated  by  prayer,  waving  the  incense  repeatedly  over  it, 
and  dropping  into  it  a  portion  of  the  meiron  in  the  shape  of 
a  cross.  The  boy  was  then  brought  back,  dripping  from  head 
to  foot,  and  again  placed  naked  and  upright  in  the  centre  : 
and  was  required  to  renounce  "  the  devil  and  all  his  works,'* 
which  was  performed  by  his  repeating  a  given  formula  four 
separate  times,  turning  each  time  towards  a  different  point  of 
the  compass.  I  named  the  child  George,  when  I  was  re- 
quested to  say  the  Belief  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  to  make 
much  the  same  promises  as  those  required  by  the  Established 
Church  of  England.  The  head  priest  afterwards  laid  hold 
of  the  boy,  dipping  his  own  hand  into  the  water,  and  crossed 
him  over  the  forehead,  pronouncing  at  the  same  moment — 
"  George,  I  BAPTIZE  thee;  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost."  The  whole  company  then  knelt 
doum,  and  joined  in  reciting  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

"  Here  the  ordinary  ceremony  of  baptism  concludes  ;  but 
as  the  boy  had  been  a  Mussulman,  he  was  crossed  with  the 
consecrated  oil  over  every  joint  of  his  body.  After  this,  he 
was  XATapped  in  a  clean  white  linen  cloth,  and  placed  for  a 
moment  in  my  arms,  the  priests  telling  me  that  "  I  must 
henceforth  consider  him  verily  as  my  Son."  The  high 
priest  did  not  take  any  active  part  in  this  ceremony,  but  the 
whole  Avas  conducted  with  great  deconun  and  a  due  degree 
of  solemnity.  The  boy  afterwards,  according  to  the  custom 
of  most  of  the  Eastern  churches,  was  admitted  to  partake  of 
the  holy  communion."* 


*  On  the  subject  of  the  white  linen  cloth,  Mr.  Salt  adds  ;  "  This  is 
a  very  ancient  part  of  the  ceremony,  as  appears  from  the  testimony  of 
many  of  the  Fathers  collected  by  Casalius. — "  Puellus  infans  mutatione 
vestis  sensu  externo  festum  colit,  quandoquidem  interiori  animi  sensu 
nondum  potest,"  &c.  De  veteribus  sacris  Christianornm  ritibus,  anctore 
Johannis  Bapt.  Casalius  Romanus.  The  same  author  says,  on  the 
reception  of  the  eucharist,  by  the  newly  baptized — "  Ritum  Eucharistiae 
suscipiendae  post  Baptismum  non  solum  adultis,  verum  etiam  infanti- 
bus  fuisse  communem." 

13 


146  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

Here  we  have  a  clear  and  incontestable  distinction  and 
separation  preserved  between  immersion  and  baptism  :  for  had 
it  so  happened,  that  this  boy  had  changed  his  mind  in  the 
interval  between  coming  from  one  place,  "  dripping  wet  from 
head  to  foot,"  and  reaching  the  other  place,  about  "  tfiirlij 
yards"  distant,  where  baptism  was  performed,  it  is  evident 
beyond  all  denial,  that  he  would  have  suffered  immersion ; 
but  he  would  not  have  been  baptized. 

The  Abyssinian  church  derived  its  rites  with  its  conversion, 
from  Egypt,  A.  D.  313  ;  and  those  conversant  with  the  sub- 
ject, will  readily  recognize  in  Mr.  Salt's  description,  the 
baptism  of  a  heathen,  as  performed  in  Egypt,  in  the  second 
century,  by  Origen,  or  the  other  preachers. 

Here  is  no  necessity  for  tanks  and  cisterns,  and  reservoirs 
of  water.  Those  priests  could  have  immersed  in  rivers  or 
lakes,  had  they  so  pleased :  but  they  had  been  accustomed  to 
use  "  great  basons  of  water,"  from  their  forefathers,  and  those 
they  still  retain. 

This  Abyssinian  baptism  not  only  strongly  recalls  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  but  it  affords  a 
memorable  instance  of  the  extreme  impropriety  of  annexing 
to  the  rite  of  Gospel  Baptism,  observances  founded  on  the 
?i7er«/ acceptation  of  METAPHORICAL  passages  of  Scripture. 

The  introduction  of  oil  and  anointing  into  the  office  of 
Baptism  is  of  extreme  antiquity  in  the  church,  and  passages  of 
Scripture  may  be  adduced  in  its  favour  ;  for  Avas  not  Jesus 
Christ  anointed  at  his  Baptism  ?  And  why  should  not  believers 
be  anointed  also  ?  "  whose  duty  it  is  to  be  conformed  in  all 
things  to  their  Head."  It  is  also  of  almost  universal  usage, 
where  oil  is  the  product  of  the  country ;  and  some  churches 
anoint  before  immersion  as  well  as  after  it. 

Scripture  authority  may  also  be  pleaded  for  the  "  clean 
white  linen  cloth,"  used  as  a  garment ;  for  are  we  not  coiTi- 
manded  to  "  put  off  the  Old  Man  with  his  deeds,"  Eph  iv. 
24  ;  which  was  done  in  the  previous  washing,  and  to  put  on 
the  New  Man?  io  put  on  Jesus  Christ  ?  Rom.  xiii.  14  ;  as 
signified  by  this  white  robe.  Anciently  also,  the  first  food 
taken  by  the  person  baptized  was  milk  and  honey ;  for,  does 
not  Scripture  say,  Isaiah  vii.  15  ;  the  Messiah  shall  eat  "  thick 
milk,  the  Eastern  butter,  and  honey,  that  he  may  know  to 
refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the  good."  Can  we  then  too 
closely  imitate  actions  attributed  to  Jesus  Christ  ?  You  see 
the  consequences  of  adopting  into  the  administration  of  a 
Christian  ordinance,  customs  grounded  on  metaphorical  ex- 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  147 

ptessions  of  Scripture  ;  do  they  furnish  valid  arguments  for 
the  practice  ?  The  sacrament  of  Baptism  does  not  rest  on 
such  supports  ;  neither  is  it  improved  by  the  adoption  of  such 
similitudes. 

There  is  another  view  of  tliis  administration  under  which 
it  answers  punctually  to  the  expressions  used  in  Scripture  in 
reference  to  Baptism. 

Did  they  exhort  you  to  "  Arise,  and  wash  away  thy  sins, 
calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord?"  Acts  xxii.  16. — Yes. 

Did  they  lead  you  to  the  washing  of  regeneration,  Titus 
iii.  5  ;  and  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  Heb.  x. 
22  :  1  Peter  iii.  21  :  by  having  your  body  washed  with  pure 
water? — Yes ;  they  washed  me  all  over  very  carefully. 

Were  you  buried  with  Christ  in  baptis?n ;  flaunted  with 
him;  crucified  icith  him;  baptized  into  his  death,  Rom.  vi. 
3 — 6  ;  immersion  in  "  the  great  bason  of  water,"  importing 
all  these  ? — Yes. 

Is  immersion  always  practised  at  baptism  ? — Is  it  esteem- 
ed essential  to  the  ordinance  ? — Yes. 

You  were  '•  dripping  wet  from  head  to  foot,"  after  your 
immersion  ;  and  do  you  affirm  that  this  is  the  regular  and 
established  administration  of  the  ordinance  in  the  Abyssinian 
church? — Yes;  immersion  has  been  the  continued  practice, 
for  more  than  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED  YEARS. 

Thus  the  practice  of  Baptism  in  Abyssinia  affords  nothing 
short  of  an  absolute  demonstration  ! 

Immersion  was  an  introductory  observance. — BAPTISM 
was  administered  in  a  different  place,  by  a  different  person, 
from  a  different  font,  with  a  different  water,  requiring  a 
different  action,  under  a  different  form  of  words.  The  actions 
were  entirely  different  ;  though  they  formed  nominally 
one  ceremony,  called  Christian  Baptism. 

These  questions  have  been  formed  in  reference  to  the  rite 
importing  death  only  :  but  the  inference  is  certain  that  the 
Abyssinian  boy  commenced  a  renovated  LIFE  ;  and  was 
known  by  his  new  name  GEORGE  ;  as  a  substitute  for  his 
Mohammedan  appellation,  or  name  previous  to  his  symbolical 
death. 

What  a  light  this  throws  on  the  story  of  baptism  conferred 
on  Cornelius  !  Acts  x.  xi.  xv.  That  every  Roman  family  had 
such  a  "  great  bason  of  water,"  or  what  was  much  the  same, 
is  notorious.  Cornelius,  as  a  Roman,  could  not  be  without 
one  ;  and  what  answers  the  purpose  of  the  church  at  Chelicut, 
where  baptism  is  expected  to  be  performed  as  a  Christian 


148  MODE   OF  BAPTISM. 

rite,  might  well  answer  the  purpose  in  the  house  of  a  Roman 
officer,  who  had  not  the  most  distant  idea  of  baptism.  Is  it 
asked,  did  other  churches  practice  baptism  in  similar  "  ba- 
sons ?" — The  proofs  of  it  are  extant  to  this  day.  Several  of 
these  "  great  basons"  are  still  preserved  in  Italy  ;  and  some  in 
France.  Unless  they  have  been  destroyed  during  the  French 
revolution,  they  may  be  seen  at  St.  Denis,  five  miles  from 
Paris. 

The  history  of  the  baptism  of  Cornelius  leads  to  further 
important  consequences  :  for  if  I  were  asked  to  produce  an 
instance  of  baptism  conferred  without  previous  immersion, 
this  is  that  instance. 

Acts  X.  14,  44.  It  is  remarkable  in  this  history,  that  Peter 
uses  two  words  to  describe  the  natural  condition  of  food :  un- 
washed and  unchansed.  The  first  certainly  signifies  un- 
washed in  the  instance  of  hands  not  immersed  before  dinner  : 
the  second  signifies  a  ritual,  ceremonial,  or  religious  clean- 
sing :  and  is  by  far  the  stronger  term.  The  answer  to  Peter 
therefore  is  — "  What  God  hath  ritually,  ceremonially,  or 
religiously  cleansed,  in  the  strongest  and  highest  degree, 
that  call  not  thou  unwashen,  in  the  lower  and  weaker  degree." 
This  was  done  thrice.  Now  taking  this  in  reference  to  Cor- 
nelius, did  not  the  descent  and  pouring  out  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
on  that  good  man  announce  his  ritual  or  religious  cleansing 
though  a  heathen,  in  the  strongest  possible  degree  ?  What 
necessity  after  this  unequivocal,  sublime  and  Divine  token  of 
a  purified  and  accepted  person,  could  there  be  for  the  entire 
washing  of  his  body  in  water,  his  immersion  ?  That  might 
have  been  indispensable  for  his  regular  admission  into  the 
Jewish  community  :  not  so  into  the  Christian  church.  Hav- 
ing received  the  greater  purification,  the  higher  degree  of 
celestial  cleansing,  why  impose  the  lesser,  the  carnal  and 
beggarly  elements  of  this  world  ?  It  would  be  degrading  the 
baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost  below  the  preparation  for  the 
humble  baptism  administered  by  John.     This  is  impossible  ! 

The  answer  of  Peter  when  challenged  on  the  subject,  co- 
incides perfectly  with  this  representation: — Acts  xi.  15; 
'■^  As  I  began  to  speak,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them,  as  on  us 
at  the  beginning.  Then  remembered  I  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
how  that  he  said,  John  indeed  baptized  with  water  ;  but  ye 
shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Forasmuch,  then, 
as  God  gave  to  them  the  like  gift,  baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
as   he   did  to  us  who  believed  on  the   Lord  Jesus  Christ, — 

what  was  I,  THAT  I  COULD  WITHSTAND  GoD  ?" 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  149 

Nevertheless  it  being  proper  that  each  convert  should  per- 
sonally make  a  clear  and  distinct  profession  of  his  faith  in 
Christ  and  of  his  future  adherence  to  him,  should  be  openly 
consecrated  to  his  serA'ice,  and  this  being  the  regular  intention 
of  Christian  baptism  ;  the  Apostle  directed  that  those  highly 
favoured  persons  should  have  that  opportunity,  before  proper 
witnesses  ;  for  his  justification,  and  for  their  own  satisfaction. 
"  He  commanded  them  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord." 

Such  was  the  authority  of  Peter  for  departing  from  the 
strict  rules  of  the  Judaico-Christian  church  ;  and  such  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  first  fruits  of  the  Gentiles 
were  dedicated  to  Christ ;  and  by  which  those  who  called 
Peter  to  account  were  put  to  silence. 

There  is  another  history  of  which  the  same  view  may  be 
taken  :  that  of  the  brethren  who  had  been  baptized  with  John's 
baptism  only;  Acts  xix.  3.  Having  been  immersed  previous 
to  their  reception  of  that  rite,  under  Paul's  direction,  they 
were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  a  proper  op- 
portunity of  explicitly  acknowledging  him  as  their  head  and 
sovereign  ;  an  opportunity  that  they  had  not  at  the  time  when 
they  received  baptism  from  John. 

The  advice  of  the  Apostle  to  the  people  of  Judea  at  the 
feast  of  Pentecost,  Acts  ii.  38,  agrees  with  this ;  they  had 
been  baptized  with  John's  baptism,  Peter  therefore  counsels 
them,  to  make  an  explicit  avowal  of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  baptism. 

Thus  we  have  made  some  progress  towards  explaining 
that  very  difficult  expression,  "  baptism  in  the  name  of  Jesus." 
Those  people  had  already  religiously  recogiaized  the  God  of 
the  Jews,  in  the  rite  of  baptism  ;  to  which  they  now  added  a 
recognition  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  These  are  all  the  places 
where  this  phrase  occurs. 


BAPTISM  OF  PERSONS  NAKED. 

The  immediate  subject  however  is  the  mode  ;  and  without 
fear  of  contradiction  I  affirm,  that  Christian  Baptism  was 
Pouring  ;  and  moreover,   the  convert  was    naked  !     If  any 

person  object — "  Why,  would  you  have  us ■  ?"     The 

question  is  not  what  any  man  would  have  ?  but  this  is  the 
simple  inquiry — "  In  what  state  did  the  primitive  Christians 
receive  baptism  ?"     The  answer  must  be,  "  naked." 

13* 


150  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

The  Baptist  principles  demand  the  most  scrupulous  adhe- 
rence to  the  original  form  of  this  "positive  institution,"  for 
"  positive  precepts  admit  of  no  degrees,  no  supplements, 
and  no  commutation.  It  is  the  will  of  God,  for  the  trial  of 
our  obedience  ;  nor  will  he  allow  us  to  enquire  whi/  ?  or  how  ? 
Compliance  must  be  so,  and  no  more,  and  no  less,  and  no 
OTHERWISE.  What  we  call  little  things,  trifling  deviations, 
arc  the  pins  and  screws  which  hold  the  sacred  tabernacle 
together  :  take  these  away,  the  whole  edifice  falls.  The 
same  rash  hand  that  makes  one  alteration  may  make  twenty; 
if  in  small  things,  why  not  in  gTeater  ?  till  at  length  the  foun- 
dation is  destroyed  ;  Christianity  is  superseded  ;  Superstition 
takes  its  place  ;  and  all  is  death,  desolation,  and  darkness." — 
Booth.  Pa^d.  Exam.  Vol.  I. 

This  conclusion  the  Baptist  objector  foresaw.  "  The  prim- 
itive Christians  baptized  naked  ;  we  baptize  clothed."  But 
whence  was  derived  the  authority  for  this  change  ?  Do  you 
know  what  is  proper,  better  than  the  institutor  of  the  rite  1 
Do  you  undertake  to  correct  the  institutions  of  the  Divine 
Saviour  ?  To  improve  them  ?  To  qualify  them  ?  You  talk  of 
decency,  did  not  he  know  what  was  decent?  If  they  plead 
decency,  modesty,  decorum,  as  valid  argiuiients  for  the  change 
which  they  have  adopted,  with  what  grace  do  they  deny  to 
others  the  right  to  plead  decency,  modesty,  and  decorum  ? 
How  happens  it,  that  these  terms  are  commanding  in  their 
mouths,  but  horrible  in  the  mouths  of  others  ?  I  mean  not  to 
deny  the  propriety  of  their  practice  in  consulting  modesty  and 
decorum  ;  but  I  expressly  deny  their  right  to  practice  one 
thing  while  they  profess  another  ;  I  deny  their  right  to  cen- 
sure their  brethren  for  deviating  from  the  primitive  practice 
less  than  they  do,  and  on  less  controvertible  principles. 

Nor  does  the  evidence  of  baptizing  naked  rest  on  those 
pictures  ;  for  Wall,  who  had  examined  the  subject  extensively, 
says,  Hist.  Bapt.  Vol.  II,  "  It  was  the  most  usual  and  ordi- 
nary way  by  which  the  ancient  Christians  did  receive  their 
baptism."  This  he  supports  by  instances  in  various  places, 
and  he  censures  those  who  alleged  against  the  Anabaptists 
as  a  fault,  the  practice  of  baptizing  naked. 

The  earliest  rite  called  baptism  that  we  know  of  is  clear 
on  this  article.  Numb.  xix.  11-22.  The  person  who  was 
defiled  by  the  dead  was  to  wash  himself  thoroughly  ;  to  bathe 
himself  in  water  ;  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  ashes,  called 
baptism,  was  effectual  to  the  purification  of  the  tent,  if  the 
w  ater  touched  the  tent ;    of  the  furniture    in  the  tent,  the 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  151 

drapery ;  if  it  touched  that  furniture,  that  drapery ;  and  it  also 
sanctified  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh.  It  therefore  was 
received  by  the  flesh  ;  and  the  party  receiving  it  was  naked  ; 
whether  absolutely  or  relatively  is  no  matter.  For  if  the 
water  purified  only  where  it  fell,  will  the  Baptists  allow,  that 
a  few  drops  falling  on  the  face,  all  the  rest  of  the  person 
being  clothed,  the  whole  man  was  sanctified? — That  were  to 
support  the  decried  practice  of  infant  sprinkling  ! 

The  New  Testament  clearly  mentions  as  a  part  of  Baptism, 
the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh  ;  1  Peter  iii.  21. 
Church  members  are  said  to  have  had  "  their  bodies  washed 
with  pure  water,"  Heb.  x.  22.  Is  there  a  single  Baptist  living 
whose  "  BODY  was  washed  with  pure  water,"  at  his  baptism  1 
— His  clothes  might  be  : — but  his  body  1  No.  When  did 
any  one  "  put  away  the  fd I h  of  the  flesh"  at  this  ordinance, 
as  administered  by  English  Baptists  ?  None  living  at  this 
day  :  whatever  some  might  have  done  more  than  a  century 
ago.  The  error  lies  in  the  profession,  not  in  the  practice  ; — 
You  say,  and  do  not.* 

The  evidence  is  clear,  that  the  ancient   Christian  painters 


*  Inasmuch  as  this  washing  denoted,  metaphorically,  a  funeral  prepa- 
ration, it  preserved  a  commemoration  of  the  state  of  death  in  which  for 
a  time  the  body  of  Jesus  lay  ;  but  how  can  a  dead  body  be  washed,  while 
clothed  1  The  thing  is  impossible  ;  the  imitation  of  it  therefore  while 
clothed  is  impossible.  The  Oriental  customs  assist  us  here  :  the  law 
is  :  "  The  Funeral  Lotion  consists  in  washing  the  body  entirely  ; 
whether  it  be  that  of  a  man,  woman,  or  child.  The  law  of  modesty, 
which  is  the  same  for  the  dead  as  for  the  living,  requires  that  the  men 
should  be  washed  by  men,  and  the  women  by  women." — D'Ohsson, 
p.  44.0,  446. 

"  The  head  and  beard  of  the  corpse  must  be  washed  with  the  flowers 
of  khitmy,  or  with  soap.  The  right  side  must  be  washed  first,  while  the 
body  rests  on  the  left ;  the  left  side,  while  it  rests  on  the  right  :  after 
that  it  mast  be  turned  on  the  back,  and  must  be  rubbed  with  a  soft  and 
gentle  hand. 

"  From  the  Booke  of  Common  Prayer,  Lon.  1549.  The  prieste  shall 
take  the  childe  in  his  handes  and  aske  his  name  :  And  nameing  the 
childe,  shall  dyppe  it  in  the  water  thryse.  First  dypping  the  right  side  : 
seconde  ihe  left  side  :  the  third  time  dypping  the  face  towarde  the 
fonte  :  so  it  be  discretely  and  warely  done,  saying,  &c." 

Considered  as  rites,  this  order  is  similar.  One  body  is  "  dyppedi'  to 
be  returned  to  its  cradle  ;  the  other  is  washed  to  be  prepared  for  the 
grave  :  for  it  is  not  yet  interred.  After  the  washing  come  the  invel- 
opement,  the  funeral  prayer,  &,c.  The  conformity  ceases  long  before 
the  final  interment.  Nor  is  this  coincidence  accidental ;  for  at  first, 
our  reformers  did  little  other  than  translate  foreign  usages  into  English, 
and  this  may  be  traced  for  several  centuries  upwards  ;  as  early  as  trine 
immersion. 


152  MODE  OF  BAPTISM." 

were  fully  justified,  in  representini^  the  subjects  receiving 
baptism,  naked.  If  they  had  represented  them  otherwise, 
they  would  have  sinned  against  fact  and  evidence.  Primi- 
tive Christianity  acknowledged  no  such  rite  as  Baptism  ad- 
ministered by  immersion  to  persons  clothed  from  head  to 
foot. 

It  was  certainly  the  custom  to  baptize  the  Catechumens 
NAKED — and  the  person  who  had  been  baptized,  immediately 
on  coming  out  of  the  water,  was  wrapped  in  an  envelope 
called  Sabano — whence  Simon  of  Thessalonica  says,  "  the 
NAKED  Catechumen  is  covered  with  a  large  covering  negt^o- 
Ittiov  wrapped  around  him  closely  in  three  windings  !  Buo- 
narotti  Oss.  sopra  vasi  di  Vetro.  Thus  the  Trinity  meets  us 
at  every  turn,  among  the  ancient  Christians,  in  connection 
with  Baptism  ! — and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  the  very 
sentiments  and  language  of  the  modern  Baptists,  respecting 
the  unclothed  state  of  the  Catechumens  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rite  of  Baptism,  are  precisely  the  scoffing  ob- 
jections of  Julian  the  Apostate  ! 

As  the  "  envelope  wrapped  around"  the  washed  Catechu- 
men had  the  form  of  a  pallium  or  cloak,  it  seems  to  be  al- 
luded to  by  Tertullian — "  Suadeo,  reverere  habitum  unius 
interim  erroris  tui  renunciatorem — enimvero  cum  banc  primum 
sapientia  vestit,  quae  vanissimis  superstitionibus  reunit ;  tunc 
certissime  pallium  super  omnes  exuvias,  et  peplos  augusta 
vestis." — De  Pallis  ;  Cap.  3,  and  4. — Hence  is  supposed  to 
have  arisen  the  error  of  writers  who  reported  that  Christians 
after  baptism  left  off  the  toga,  and  assumed  the  pallium. 

The  ancient  Christians  had  among  them  also  pictures  of 
Adam  and  Eve.  "  Paolino  clearly  makes  mention  of  repre- 
sentations of  Adam  and  Eve,  on  occasion  of  his  describing 
various  pictures  in  the  Basilica.  Augustin  alludes  to  that 
subject  in  his  book  against  Julian  the  Apostate.* 

Buonarotti  thus  writes  on  the  subject  of  Baptism. 

"  Whoever  desires  to  know  to  what  degree  the  ancient 
Christians  were  solicitous  to  preserve  a  certain  tradition  of 
their  sacved  symbols  used  in  painting,  and  what  care  they 
employed,  that  they  might  always  be  represented  in  the  same 
manner,  and  not  be  changed  in  any  thing,  which  from  the 
beginning  had  been  customary  in  the   church,  let  him  reflect 


•  '«  A  pictoribus  tne  didicisse  derides,  quod  Adam  et  Mulier  ejus 
pudenda  contexerint,  Horatianum  illud  decanlatum  audire  me  pra;- 
cipis.  GLuidlihet  audiendi  semper  fuit  jequa  potestas." — Lib.  v-  cap.  2. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  153 

on  the  uniformity  found  among  the  paintings  on  those  most 
ancient  pieces  of  glass,  also  on  the  basso  relievos  of  the  Sar- 
cophagi, Sepulchres,  on  the  paintings  of  the  Caemeteries, 
Catacombs,  and  the  Mosaics  of  the  churches  in  Rome  ;  which 
are  not  equally  ancient :  but  especially,  let  him  well  observe 
the  Vatican  Sarcophagus,  published  by  Arringhi,  in  the 
middle  of  which,  as  there  represented,  we  see  almost 
the  very  same  things,  that  are  seen  on  the  glass.  There  is  the 
Saviour  on  the  mount,  from  which  issues  four  streams.* 

I  had  always  understood  that  it  was  a  fact  acknowledged 
by  all  parties,  that  the  primitive  Christians  received  Baptism 
in  a  state  of  nakedness  :  the  denial  of  this  lately  by  the  Bap- 
tists has  taken  me  by  surprise.  The  evidence  now  offered 
must  be  considered  as  a  kind  o^  gleaning ;  comprising  merely 
such  passages  as  presented  themselves  in  the  continuation  of 
researches  on  the  general  subject. 

The  first  witness  is  the  Baptist  Historian  Robinson,  who 
says,  Cap.  xv.  ;  "  The  primitive  Christians  baptized  naked. 
Nothing  is  easier  than  to  give  proof  of  this  by  quotations  from 
the  authentic  writings  of  the  men  who  administered  Baptism, 
and  who  certainly  knew  in  what  way  they  themselves  per- 
formed it.  There  is  no  ancient  historical  fact  better  authenti- 
cated than  this.  The  evidence  doth  not  go  on  the  meaning  of 
the  single  word  naked,  for  then  a  reader  might  suspect  alle- 
gory :  but  on  many  facts  reported,  and  many  reasons  assigned 
for  the  practice.     Chrysostom  criminates  Theophilus  because 

*  Chi  vuol  conoscere  quanto  i  Cristiani  antichi  fossero  attenti  a  con- 
servare  con  una  certa  tradizione  i  sacri  simbolidelle  pitture,  e  quanta 
cura  avessero,  che  senipre  si  facessero  i  medesimi,  e  non  si  variasse  da 
quelle,  che  sul  principio  avesse  cominciato  a  costumare  la  Chiesa, 
basta  riflettere  all'uniformita,  che  passa  Ira  le  pitture  di  questi  vetri 
antichissimi,  ed  i  bassirilievi  de'  Sarcofagri,  e  le  pitture  de'  Cimiteri, 
ed  i  Mosaici  delie  Chicse  di  Roma,  che  non  sono  tanto  antichi;  ma 
particolarmentebisognaosservare  il  Sarcofago  Vaticano  riporlato  dall' 
Arringhio  alia  pag.  295,  nel  mezzo  del  quale,  come  si  e  accennato,  vi 
sono  quasi  aifatto  le  medesime  cose,  che  si  vedono  in  questo  vetro  ;  vi 
fe  il  Salvatore  sul  Monte,  da  cui  scaluriscono  i  quattro  fiumi ;  il  Sal- 
vatore  da  alia  figura,  che  h  dalla  sinistra  il  volume,  questa  figura  e 
vestita,  e  sta  in  aititudine  di  scendere  nel  Giordano,  come  sta  la  nos- 
tra, ed  ha  una  Croce  in  ispalla  ;  dalla  parte  destra  vi  e  quella  mede- 
sima  imagine  di  uomo  colla  barba,  e  col  pallio,  e  coUa  destra  distesa, 
che  noi  abbiamo  creduto,  che  rappresenti  S.  Giovan  Batista;  a'piedi 
del  Redentore  vi  e  I'Agnus  Dei,  ma  con  una  croce  sul  capo,  e  piu 
basso  le  pecorine;  di  qua,  e  di  la  dal  Salvaiore  vi  sono  due  palme,  e 
sopra  a  quella  mano  dritta  vi  e  un  uccello,  che  sara  fatto  per  la  nostra 
fenice  ;  e  vi  sono  parimente  due  torri,  e  due  porte  di  Citta — Buona- 
rolti  Osservationi  sopra  alcuni  vasi  Antichi  di  Vetros. 


154  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

lie  had  raised  a  disturbance  without,  which  so  frightened  the 
women  in  the  baptistery,  who  had  just  stripped  tliemselves 
naked  in  order  to  be  baptized,  that  they  fled  naked  out  of  the 
room,  without  having  time  to  consult  the  modesty  of  their  sex. 
— Basil  rose  up  with  fear  and  trembling,  undressed  himself,  put- 
ting off  the  old  man,  and  went  down  praying  into  the  water  ; 
and  the  priest  going  down  along  with  him  baptized  him."  The 
reasons  assigned  for  this  practice  are,  that  Christians  ought 
to  put  off  the  old  man  before  they  put  on  a  profession  of 
Christianity  ;  that  as  men  came  naked  into  the  world,  so  they 
ought  to  come  naked  into  the  church,  for  rich  men  could  not 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  that  it  was  an  imitation  of 
Christ,  who  laid^aside  his  glory,  and  made  himself  of  no  re- 
putation for  them :  and  that  Adam  had  forfeited  all,  and  that 
Christians  ought  to  profess  to  be  restored  to  the  enjoyment  of 
all,  only  by  Jesus  Christ.  Basnage,  than  whom  no  man  un- 
derstood Church  History  better,  says,  "  When  artists  threw 
garments  over  ■pictures  of  the  baptized,  they  consulted  the  taste 
of  spectators  more  than  the  truth  of  the  fact.''''  Basnage  might 
have  added,  that  all  the  truly  ancient  representations  of  bap- 
tism represented  the  person  receiving  baptism  as  absolutely 
naked  :  not  even  "  a  wrapper  round  the  middle"  was  thought 
of,  till  after  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  was  considerably  vi- 
tiated. Because  the  case  is  so  clear  Robinson  gave  no  addi- 
tional quotations ;  and  Wall  was  influenced  by  the  same  con- 
sideration. His  words  are  these  :  "  The  ancient  Christians, 
when  they  were  baptized  by  immersion,  were  all  baptized 
NAKED,  whether  they  were  men,  women,  or  children.  Vos- 
sius,  De  Baptism.  Disp.  i.  cap.  6,  7,  8,  has  collected  several 
proofs  of  this,  which  1  omit,  because  it  is  a  clear  case." 
Hist.  Bapt.  vol.  II. 

What  could  Origen  mean,  if  Baptism  were  not  received  in  a 
state  of  nakedness,  when  he  says,  "  With  thy  garments  new- 
ly washed  thou  camest  to  the  grace  of  Baptism ;  thou  wast 
by  it  purified  in  thy  body  ;  thou  wast  purified  in  thy  spirit ; 
thou  wast  cleansed  from  all  defilement  of  flesh  and  spirit."* 
Hence  the  Christian  Fathers  took  literally,  in  reference  to  the 
baptism  of  individual  converts,  the  words,  Ephes.  v.  26 ; 
Christ  "sanctified  and  cleansed  the  church  by  the  washing  of 
water;"   using  also  a  certain  form  of  words,  the  Baptismal 


•  Lota  sunt  vestiinenta  tna  cum  venisti  ad  Baptismi  gratiam  ; 
purificatus  es  corpore;  purificalus  e$  spiritu  ;  tnundatus  es  ab  omni 
inquinamento  cahnis,  et  spiritus.    Exod.  in  lib.  ii. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  155 

form,  each  believer  having  neither  spot  nor  wrinkle  ;  but  be- 
ing no  less  scrupulously  washed  in  his  person  than  was  the 
practice  among  the  Jews,  in  their  administration  of  baptismal 
washings.  Hence,  says  a  Poet,  "  The  parents  receive  from 
the  sacred  font  their  infants  white  as  snow,  in  body,  in 
heart,  in  habit.  The  souls  of  the  baptized  are  cleansed,  and 
the  members  of  their  body  are  washed."* 

The  history  quoted  by  Robinson  and  Wall  deserves  further 
examination  :  for  that  writer  seems  to  have  entertained  no 
doubt  that  even  women  were  baptized  naked ;  and  Wall  ex- 
pressly asserts  the  same,  not  only  in  the  words  we  have 
quoted,  but  in  his  remarks  on  the  violence  offered  to  Chry- 
sostom's  female  converts.  "  They  took  great  care  to  preserve 
the  modesty  of  any  woman  that  was  to  be  baptized.  There 
were  none  but  women  came  near  or  in  sight,  till  she  was  un- 
dressed, and  her  body  in  the  water:  then  the  Priest  came, 
and  putting  her  head  under  water,  used  the  form  of  Baptism. 
Then  he  departed,  and  the  women  took  her  out  of  the  water, 
and  clothed  her  again  with  white  garments."  But  the  preser- 
vation of  modesty  by  this  mode  was  impossible,  especially 
when  a  number  of  women  were  to  be  baptized  together.  Not 
so  much  as  the  face  of  any  modest  woman  was  seen,  at  any 
time,  except  by  her  own  husband  :  so  that  it  is  not  necessary 
to  prove  with  what  inflexible  adherence  to  custom  the  women 
in  the  East  conceal  their  faces.  Surely  then,  decent  women, 
Christian  converts,  would  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  seen 
and  handled,  as  they  must  be  if  plunged  by  a  stranger;  and 
this  impossibility  increases  as  it  affects  the  young  women, 
the  maidens.  Moreover,  the  very  mention  of  priests  and  dea- 
cons in  this  history  confutes  this  notion.  Wall  says  ;  There 
is  an  account  given  by  Sozomen,  H.  E.  lib.  viii.  cap.  21,  A. 
D.  403,  of  an  insult  made  by  the  soldiers  in  the  great  church 
at  Constantinople,  against  Chrysostom  and  his  adherents  :  for 
on  Easter-eve  they  rushed  in  armed  ;  and,  he  adds,  "  There 
was  a  great  tumult  at  the  font,  the  women  shrieking  in  a 
fright,  and  the  cluldreii  crying.  The  Priests  and  Deacons 
were  beaten,  and  forced  to  run  away  with  their  vestments 
on."  Were  those  priests  and  deacons  waiting  in  the  same 
apartment  with  the  women  who  were  undressing  themselves 

*  Abluitis  quicumque  animas,  et  membra  laracris, 
Cernite  proposilas  ad  bonafacta  vias. 

Inde  Parens  sacro  ducit  de  fonte  sacerdos 
Infantes  niveos  corpore,  corde,  habitu. 


156  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

for  the  purpose  of  receiving  baptism  ?  Where  then  was  fe- 
male modesty  ?  How  is  this  consistent  with  the  former  as- 
sertion that  "  none  but  women  came  near  ?"  The  more  this 
is  examined,  the  more  evident  will  it  appear  that,  although 
those  ablutions,  or  immersions,  for  they  are  the  same  thing, 
were  the  initiatory  part  of  Baptism,  yet  Baptism  was  not 
performed  by  the  priest's  access  to  the  person  of  any  woman, 
while  she  was  naked,  and  "  her  body  in  the  water."  Could 
the  prayers  and  the  responses,  or  confessions  of  faith,  &c., 
be  rehearsed,  while  a  woman,  or  a  number  of  women,  re- 
mained standing  in  the  water  ? 

The  einbarassment  of  our  Baptist  brethren  on  this  matter 
is  very  great.  They  find  themselves  guilty  of  departing  from 
the  primitive  usage  in  this  particular,  even  while  most  ve- 
hemently urging  imiform  adherence  to  that  usage  as  a  part  of 
positive  duty,  in  which  negligence  is  sinful.  If  precise  con- 
formity in  all  points  to  the  original  ritual  be  indispensable,  as 
obedience  to  God  and  to  Christ,  and  if  in  this  point  they  vio- 
late the  original  ritual,  then  they  stand  self-condemned.  That 
they  do  depart  from  the  institution  as  at  first  performed,  these 
extracts  evince. 

There  are  two  ways  by  which  Baptism  might  be  performed 
with  due  regard  to  female  modesty.  After  the  Deaconess  had 
caused  the  woman  or  women  under  her  care  to  be  properly 
washed,  and  clothed  in  the  baptismal  habit,  the  Priests  and 
Deacons  might  come  into  the  same  apartment  and  confer  Bap- 
tism— or  the  woman  or  women  properly  habited,  after  immer- 
sion, might  go  out  of  their  apartment  into  the  Accubitnm,  or 
Vestry,  and  there  receive  the  remainder  of  the  rite  from  the 
lesser  font.  But  either  of  these  implies  a  division  of  the  ser- 
vice ;  the  first  part  being  immersion  or  washing,  and  the  se- 
cond, baptism  or  consecration. 

Nor  let  it  be  thought  strange  that  this  official  superintend- 
ence of  immersion  should  belong  to  the  Deaconess  ;  for  as 
the  women  in  the  East  are  in  the  habit  of  going  often  to  the 
public  baths,  it  doubtless  often  happened  that  the  Deaconess 
had  frequently  met  with  her  charge  at  the  baths,  under  the 
same  circumstances  of  washing  and  dressing.  Possibly  she 
might  have  done  the  same  services  from  civility,  which  were 
also  done  as  a  ritual  of  religion.  Ai  first  Deaconesses  were 
widows,  who  had  lived  with  one  husband  only ;  not  less  than 
sixty  years  of  age.  In  later  times  they  wore  a  distinguishing 
dress.  They  visited  women  in  the  name  of  the  Church, 
when  sick  or  in  poverty ;  and  it  is  supposed  also,  that  they 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  157 

visited  female  prisoners  suffering  as  Christians.  The  Apostle 
Paul  says  that  Phebe  had  been  the  patroness  of  himself  and 
many  others.  This  implies  both  dignity  and  respectability 
of  station  in  life  as  appertaining  to  the  office  of  Deaconess. 

Muratori  gives  us  the  following  sepulchral  inscription  of 
one  of  those  ancient  female  office-bearers  in  the  Church  : 

Daciana  Diaconissa 

Que  v.  An.  xxxxv.  M.  III. 

Et  fuit  F.  Palmati  Cos. 

Et  Soror  Victorini  Presbri 

Et  multa  prophetavit. 

Ctjm  Flacca  Alumna 

V.  A.  XV.  Deposita  in  pace  III.  Id.  A.  D.  412. 

"  Daciana,  a  Deaconess,  who  lived  forty-five  years  and 
three  months  ;  when  F.  Palraatus  was  Consul.  She  was  sis- 
ter to  Yictorinus  the  Presbyter  ;  and  had  instructed  in  religion 
many  of  her  sex." 

Considering  that  men  had  scarcely  any  access  to  the  young- 
er women  at  home,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  received 
the  major  part  of  their  religious  instruction  from  the  Deacon- 
esses ;  and  so  much  of  it  as  was  requisite  previous  to  Bap- 
tism was  a  convenient  preparation  for  that  ordinance.* 


DEACONESSES. 

Deaconesses  Avere  of  Apostolic  institution ;  but  the  office 
of  Deaconess,  though  unquestionably  Scriptural,  is  discarded 
from  Baptist  Churches,  which  therefore  are  confessedly  im- 
perfect. They  have  abandoned  the  Scriptural  example ;  for 
what  cause,  it  becomes  them  to  explain  who  profess  inviolate 
and  punctual  conformity.  Paul  writing  to  the  Romans,  xvi. 
1,  expressly  calls  Phebe,  Siaxovor,  diaconon,  "Deaconess  of 
the  church  at  Cenchrea;"  and  she  is  described  as  the  suc- 
cour and  protectress  of  many.  To  women  of  this  character 
whom  he  describes  among  the  Deacons,  1  Timothy,  iii.  11, 


*  The  practice  of  anointing  after  Baptism  is  extremely  ancient,  and 
was  almost  universal.  In  that,  the  Deaconess  performed  the  principal 
part  among  the  women  ;  for  the  Presbyter  anointed  the  woman's  head 
only.  TJie  Deaconess  anointed  the  female  body,  which  was  in  conform- 
ity 'with  the  prior  ceremonies  respecting  the  washing  with  water  in 
Baptism. 

14 


158  MODE  OF  BAPTISM, 

as  "  grave,  not  slanderers,  sober  and  faithful  in  all  things  ;" 
Paul  also  refers.  Pliny,  anxious  to  discover  the  secrets  of  the 
Christians,  caused  two  female  servants  of  the  church,  called 
"  mimsters"  to  be  tortured  ;  but  he  could  not  obtain  from  them 
any  confession  of  guilt.  "  I  could  find  nothing,"  he  said,  in 
his  formal  letter  to  'I'rajan,  "  but  a  vile  superstition."  * 

That  female  Church  officer,  the  Draconess,  long  continued 
to  be  both  popular  and  useful  among  the  faithful.  They  gradu- 
ally became  more  rarely  adverted  to  by  ecclesiastial  writers, 
and  are  not  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  ministrations  of 
the  Church  after  about  A.  D.  1000.  Deaconesses  are  most 
particularly  specified  by  Epiphanius.  Haeres.  l.Kxix.  "  Qua; 
est  Collyridianorum  ;"  who  says,  "  There  are  also  Deacon- 
esses in  the  Church  ;  but  this  office  was  not  instituted  as  a 
priestly  function,  nor  has  it  any  interference  with  priestly  ad- 
ministrations ;  but  it  was  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  preserv- 
ing a  due  regard  to  the  inndesty  of  the  female  sex,  especially  at 
the  time  of  baptismal  washing,  and  while  /.he  person  of  the  wo- 
man is  na/^d ;  that  she  may  not  be  seen  by  the  men  perform- 
ing the  sacred  service,  but  by  her  ovily  who  is  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  woman,  during  the  time  that  she 
was  naked"!  Now  if  the  men  performing  the  sacred  ser- 
vice did  not  seethe  woman  receiving  baptism  while  unclothed, 
how  could  any  one  go  down  into  th^e  font  and  plunge  her  ?  If 
the  woman,  while  the  process  of  immersion  or  washing  was 
performing,  was  seen  by  the  Deaconess  alone,  Baptism  could 


♦Quo  magis  necessarium  credidi,  ex  duabiis  ancillis  quae  ministrse 
dicebaritur,  quid  esset  veri  et  per  tormenia  quaerere.  Nihil  aliud  in- 
veni,  quam  superstitionem  pravam  et  immddicaiii.    Lib.  i.  typist.  97. 

t  Gabriel  Albaspineus.  "  Diaconissic. — Ministerio  Diaconis^arum 
plerisque  in  locis  pudori  feminarum  consulebaiur :  ilte  enim  ad  Bap- 
lismum  venientes  lionesto  nudabanl  et  e.xnebant,  nequid  oculi.s  bapti- 
zantis   inverecunde  ingerereiur,  ul  Epiphanius  indicat.     A(uko>'i(T(7(ji' 

^nv  Tayjia  crrii/  ti'j  Tr]v  CKKXrj^iav,  aXA  v^i  cis  to  UpaTtveiv  nScrt  eni^^ttpcii'  £7r(- 
TpCTTCtv.  'incKtv  it  atjivOTTiToi  Tu  yvvaiKCiv  ytvaj  ri  61  lopav  \uTpy  kui  S  tc  yvjivo)- 
6civ  aoijm  yvvaiKB,  Xva  f)ri  vrro  d  avUpiov  ttpapyuiTiiiv  deadeiv,  "aXX'  vno  t«  upcdii 
iTTifjLtXetndai  yvvaiKoi  iv  rii  oifia  rij;  t»  aoifxuros   avrni   yvfivuacoji.      E.St    quideui 

Diaconissarum  in  Ecclesia  ;  sed  nonest  instituius  ad  funclionem  Sacer- 
dotii,  vel  ad  aliquam  ejus  miidi  adminisiraiionem,  sed  ut  niuliebris 
sexiis  honestati  consulaiur,  sive  ut  tempore  adsii  Bapiismi  sive  quan- 
do  nudandum  esi  mulieris  corpus,  ne  ab  iis  conspiciaiur.  qui  .sacris 
operaniur,  sed  a  sola  videatur  Diaconissa  ;  quae  jussu  sacerdoiis  cu- 
ram  mulieris  gerit,  dum  vestibiis  exuitur;  aiqiie  id  secundum  consti- 
tulionem  boni  ordiiiis  el  Ecclesiasiicae  disciplmje  ex  prescripio  cano- 
nis  admodum  siabiliiae." — Causaubon  Antiquitates  EcclesiasticoeExerc 
xvi.  ad  Annales  Baronii. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  159 

not  possibly  have  been  administered  according  to  the  notion 
and  practice  of  the  Baptists. 

If  the  "  FACTS  and  evidences"  adduced  have  Truth  on 
their  side,  whatever  appears  to  oppose  them  is  proportionally 
Aveakened  and  rendered  inefficient  as  argument.  Neverthe- 
less, objections  are  drawn  from  incidental  circumstances 
which,  however  feeble  or  erroneous,  have  been  announced 
by  the  Baptists  as  highly  important.  One  of  them  is  the  pas- 
sage, John  iii.  23  ;  in  which  "  much  water,"  as  our  transla- 
tors have  rendered  the  words,  is  assigned  as  a  reason  why 
John  was  baptizing  in  that  place.  It  is  admitted,  however, 
"  that  vduzu  Tiollu  is  plural,  and  denotes  many  ivatfirs."' — To 
which  I  add,  that  the  words  vduru  nolka  most  properly  si gTiify 
jlowiug  waters,  or  currents  ;  and  had  the  words  been  rendered 
"  many  streams,^'  I  should  have   applauded  their  correctness. 

Enon. — The  objection  is  thus  propounded  by  Dr.  Ryland. 
John  iii.  23. — This  is  rendered  by  our  translators  ;  "  because 
there  was  much  water  there."  But  our  brethren,  afraid  that 
this  expression  should  countenance  the  idea  of  immersion, 
♦allege  that  hydata  polla,  iidaia  nolXu,  would  be  more  literally 
rendered  many  waters,  or  small  streams  ,  as  if  the^e  latter 
words  might  have  been  given  as  the  rendering  of  the  Greek. 
Thus  it  is  insinuated,  that  though  there  were  such  saiall 
springs  as  would  suffice  to  give  drink  to  a  multitude  of  peo- 
ple, or  even  to  their  cattle,  yet  they  would  never  suffice  for 
the  purpose  of  immersion.  It  is  true  that  hydata  polla  is 
plural,  and  denotes  literally  many  waters,  but  that  it  does  not 
mean  small  streams  is  evident,  from  all  other  places  where  it 
is  used  in  the  New  Testament.  It  occurs  only  in  the  Reve- 
lation written  by  this  Evangelist;  Rev.  i.  15,  "his  voice  as 
the  sound  of  many  waters."  Let  this  description  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  our  Lord  be  compared  with  the  appearance  of 
the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel,  in  Ezek.  xliii.  2  ;  Rev.  xiv. 
2  ;  and  xix.  6  ;  where  the  united  chorus  of  all  the  inhabitants 
of  Heaven  is  said  to  have  been  "  as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
and  as  the  voice  of  a  great  thunder,"  or  "  as  the  voice  of 
many  thunderings."  That  sound  which  resembles  mighty 
thunderings  may  resemble  the  sound  of  a  cataract,  or  the 
roarina  of  the  sea,  but  cannot  resemble  a  tiidding  rill.  The 
same  term  is  used  respecting  the  Antichristian  Harlot,  Rev. 
xvii.  1,  15;  who  sat  upon  many  waters ;  which  are  explained, 
as  the  emblem  of  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and 
tongues.  A  representation  not  taken  from  such  small  streams 
as  a  stranger  could  hardly  find  ;  but  evidently  from  the  situa- 


160  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

tion  of  old  Babylon.     Jer.  li.    13.     "O  thou  that  dwellest 
upon  many  waters,  t^-c." 

^^^  Hydata  polla  is   evidently  a  Hebraism,  the 

'        word  for  waters  in  that  language   being  in  the 
_^  Dual  form,  wiiOT,  and  having  no  singular,  always 

is  connected  with  a  plural  adjective ;   as  mim 
^     "'^        raJzwi,  many  waters,  »jm  cAoMWj,  living  waters, 
^"''^        mim  adirim,  mighty  waters,  mim  cabirim,  mighty 
D"/int3  D'^a        waters,  mim  tehurim,  clean  waters.     The  cor- 
responding phrase  mim  rabim  occurs  often  in  the   old  Testa- 
ment;    Ezek.   xvii.     5,  8;    and   xliii.    2.       Psa.   xviii.    16. 
"  He  drew  me  out  of  many  waters,"  or  small  streams. — Cant, 
viii.  7.     "  Many  waters  cannot  quench  love,"  small  streams 
cannot! — Psa.  Ixxvii.  19.     "  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  thy 
path  in  many  waters,"  the  great  waters.    Psa.  xciii.  4.     "  The 
Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the  noise  of  many  waters,  than 
the  mighty  waves  of  the  sea." — Isa.   xxiii.  3.     It  is  said  of 
Tyre  ;  "  By  many  waters,  great  waters,  the  seed  of  Sihor,  the 
harvest  of  the  river  is  her  revenue.     Let  our 
ca-i   ca        Brethren  search  if  they  can  find  an  instance  of 
mim  rabim  being  used   as   synonymous  with 
small  streams." 

A  goodly  parade  of  words  ! — "  voices — roarings — thunder- 
ings — Cataracts — Seas — Sihor — Tigris — Euphrates, — "why 
did  not  they  add — "  Burhampooter — Oronoko — Niagara?"  the 
addition  would  have  been  quite  as  much  to  the  purpose,  as 
the  other  ingredients  of  the  note.  Happy  fountain !  Happy 
Enon .'  ennobled  by  such  mighty  associations,  by  such  mag- 
nificent alliances  !  But  the  nature  of  the  fountain  called  Enon, 
is  a  question  not  to  be  solved  by  verbiage.  It  is  a  simple 
question  of  pure  geography.  Was  there  ever  issuing  from 
one  spring,  a  body  of  water  forming  many  parts,  in  any  dis- 
trict of  the  land  of  Judea,  in  any  locality  accessible  to  John 
Baptist  in  his  travels,  by  which  these  allusions  to  the  Tigris, 
Euphrates,  &c.  may  be  justified  ?  or  are  they  merely  phan- 
toms of  Baptist  ingenuity  and  fancy  1 

Dr.  Ryland  has  a  thousand  times  enforced  the  established 
maxim  in  logic — "  Concerning  that  which  does  not  exist,  and 
that  which  cannot  be  shown  to  exist  by  credible  testimony,  the 
inference  is  exactly  the  same."  Under  the  shelter  of  this 
maxim,  I  affirm,  in  unequivocal  terms,  that  there  is  no  such 
spring  in  existence  ;  there  never  was  such  a  spring  in  exist- 
ence, in  any  part  of  Judea,  as  the  Enon  thus  described,  and 
thus  illustrated.     If  a  spring  so  copious  were  in  existence,  it 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  161 

would  be  invaluable  to  the  native  inhabitants  :  the  memory 
of  it  could  not  have  perished  :  it  would  be  still  in  use  :  some 
rumour  of  it  would  have  reached  us.  Who  mentions  such  a 
spring  ?  European  travellers  have  explored  the  Jordan,  from 
the  lake  of  Tiberias  to  the  Dead  Sea,  with  great  assiduity  : 
which  of  them  has  ever  seen  this  wonderful  discharge  of 
waters  ?  Which  of  them  ever  gathered  the  most  distant  hint 
of  a  phenomenon  so  mighty,  so  acceptable  ?  They  have  visi- 
ted Scythopolis,  or  Beth  Shen :  or  if  Salim,  as  is  probable, 
be  some  miles  further  south — the  wonder  is  so  much  the 
greater,  that  a  body  of  water  so  considerable  should  continue 
unknown  ;  since  hundreds  of  travellers  have  been  within  a 
short  distance  of  it.  The  French,  at  the  time  of  Napoleon's 
expedition  into  Syria,  had  a  corps  of  horse  at  Beth  Shen  ; 
and  roamed  the  country  down  the  Jordan  :  particularly  ex- 
ploring It  on  the  west.  Have  they  dropped  the  smallest  hint 
of  a  discovery  so  acceptable,  especially  for  cavalry  ?  Not  a 
single  word  of  any  fountain  answering  to  the  Baptist  Eiion. 
Our  whole  information  concerning  this  spring  rests  on  the 
authority  of  Eusebius,  repeated  by  Jerom,  who  says  in  a  few 
words — it  was  eight  miles  from  Scythopolis,  south,  between 
Salim  and  the  Jordan.  This  is  the  whole  that  appears  in 
Calmet  ;  of  this  thundering  fountain,  he  knows  absolutely 
nothing.  Since  then  it  is  unknown  to  our  ablest  Geogra- 
phers, to  our  most  adventurous  and  observant  travellers,  to 
our  most  inquisitive  men — I  deny  its  existence: — according 
to  the  character  attributed  to  it  by  the  Baptists. 

Enon,  by  its  name,  imports  a  single  spring  ;  "  the  fountain, 
of  On  .•"  but  it  flowed  in  several  or  many  streams.  There  is 
no  difficulty  on  the  word  polla ;  it  clearly  signifies  many. 
Nor  ought  there  to  be,  on  the  adoption  of  the  English  word 
streams :  notwithstanding  the  determined  opposition  to  this 
very  convenient  and  very  innocent  monosyllable.  The  Eng- 
lish word,  "  stream,^''  is  of  very  extensive  import :  it  describes 
the  whole  course  of  the  Ganges,  at  its  most  extensive  over- 
flow ;  the  much  narrower  course  of  the  Thames,  as  distinct 
from  the  tide- way ;  the  progress  of  the  sea,  running  thou- 
sands of  miles  in  the  open  ocean  —  as  the  ^M-strcam  ;  the 
current  of  a  rivulet,  or  the  discharge  from  the  spout  of  a  tea- 
pot. But  on  the  subject  under  investigation,  we  want  an  ar- 
ticle that  we  can  reduce  to  the  test  of  ocular  evidence  :  we 
want  one  on  which  the  same  Greek  word  has  been  employed, 
as  we  find  employed  by  the  Evangelist  John,   in  describing 

14* 


162  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

the  spring  of  On.  I  know  of  but  one  such  ;  and  that  is  the 
fountain  of  Elisha,  at  Jericho. 

In  2  Kings  ii.  20 ;  the  elders  of  Jericho  complained  to 
Elisha,  "  the  water  is  naught,"  says  our  translation  ;  but  the 
words  are  plural  in  the  Hebrew  ;  and  the  Gjeek  rendering  is 
plural;  idi  vdata  novrjqu,  ta  hydata  ponera ;  the  streams  are 
evil.  Now  what  says  matter  of  fact  to  this  ?  Maundrell 
shall  inform  us.  "  Its  waters  are.  at  present  received  in  a 
basin,  about  nine  or  ten  paces  long,  and  five  or  six  broad  : 
and  thence  issuing  out  in  good  plenty,  divide  themselves 
into  several  small  streams,  dispersing  their  refreshment  to  all 
the  field,  between  this  and  Jericho,  and  rendering  it  exceed- 
ing fruitful.  Close  by  the  fountain  grows  a  large  tree  spread- 
ing into  boughs  over  the  water,  and  there  in  a  shade  we  took 
a  collation,  with  the  Father  Guardian,  and  thirty  or  forty 
Friars  more,  who  went  this  journey  with  us." 

Here  we  have  ^' waters  ""  i?i  good  plenty  ;"  and  it  might 
appear  an  unexceptionable  rendering  of  the  passage,  to  say, 
in  Bible  language,  "  John  was  baptizing  in  the  fountain  of 
Elisha,  near  Jericho,  because  there  was  good  plenty  of  water." 
But  against  this  rendering,  fair  as  it  seems,  we  are  barred, 
by  the  plural  form  of  the  original :  this  good  plenty  describes 
the  water,  while  flowing  in  one  body ;  the  Hebrew  and  the 
Greek  speak  of  it  after  its  division.  To  represent  the  original 
accurately,  we  must  render :  "  John  was  baptizing  at  the 
fountain  of  Elisha,  near  Jericho,  because  there  were  several 
streams  there."  It  is  demonstrated,  by  this  evidence,  that 
the  Greek  term  hydata,  imports  streams  :  and  as  to  the  "  7nany" 
— respecting  water  issuing  from  one  source,  the  greater  be 
the  number  of  streams  into  which  it  is  divided,  the  more  is 
each  diminished.  Two  are  of  less  magnitude  than  one : 
four,  than  two  ;  tight,  than  four,  &c.  Let  the  Baptists  fix  on 
what  number  they  please  for  this  many,  and  let  the  argument 
abide  the  consequence. 

The  present  question  is  this — What  was  the  magnitude, 
and  what  were  the  powers  and  properties  of  the  spring  of  On  1 
Let  an  accurate  geographical  description  of  this  spot  be  ad- 
duced. Till  then,  I  infer  from  what  I  do  know  satisfactorily, 
that  it  is  not  safe  to  describe  Enon,  the  spring  of  On,  by  com- 
parison with  the  Euphrates,  the  Tigris  or  mighty  thunder- 

I.VGS.       It  is  SINNING  BY  EXCESS  ! 

But  after  affirming  that  the  words,  vSaxu  noXla,  are  evi- 
dently a  Hebraism,  it  is  added. — "  Let  our  brethren  search 
if  they  can  find  an  instance  of  Mim  Rabim  being  used  as 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  163 

s^Tionymous  with  small  streams."  I  retort — "  our  Brethren" 
have  no  farther  to  seek  than  the  very  first  reference  specified 
in  the  concordance  to  the  Bible,  to  annul  this  futile  argument. 
It  is  recorded  in  Numbers  xxiv.  5,  7. 

How  goodly  are  thy  Tents,  O  Jacob ! 
And  thy  Tabernacles,  O  Israel  ! 
As  the  Valleys  are  they  spread  out, 
As  Gardens  along  the  river  side  : 
As  Ahalim  trees  planted  by  Jehovah  : 
As  Cedars  by  the  water  courses. 
A  stream  shall  flow  around  his  suckers  ; 
And  his  seeds  shall  flourish  in  many  streams. 
mini  rabim. 

The  Cedar  is  a  mountain  tree,  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon  are- 
far  oflf  from  broad  rivers,  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  or  the 
Tiber.  Moreover,  the  higher  parts  of  mountains  are  precisely 
the  places  where  we  look  for  "  tinkling  rills  ;" — and  if  this 
majestic  tree,  when  at  its  full  strength,  might  maintain  itself 
against  the  impetuosity  of  "  great  waters,"  how  the  suckers 
growing  around  its  roots,  how  the  offsets  taken  from  it,  or 
how  its  seeds,  cones,  in  the  instance  of  the  Cedar,  could  resist 
the  velocity  of  roaring  floods,  must  continue  a  secret  to  all 
but  the  objector.  However,  supposing  that  the  ^edar,  a  tree 
famous  for  its  strength,  should  be  so  fortunate;  none  canbelieve 
this  of  that  weakest  of  all  trees,  the  Vine.  Yet,  of  this  clasper 
by  nature  and  necessity,  the  prophet  says  ;  Ezek.  xix.  10. 

Thy  mother  was  like  a  Vine, 

Planted  in  thy  levels,  beside  thy  water  courses  : 

She  was  fruitful  and  full  of  branches, 

By  reason  of  many  waters  ;  mivt  rabim. 

Is  a  place,  the  confluence  of  waters,  of  great  waters,  a 
place  assimilated  to  Sihor,  to  the  Tigris,  to  the  Euphrates, 
proper  for  the  culture  of  the  Vine  1  Can  the  feeble  scion  of 
this  feeble  parent,  almost  a  trailing  plant,  unless  assisted  by 
some  sturdy  associate,  possibly  come  to  maturity,  if  exposed 
to  the  dangerous  action  of  violent  streams  ?  Would  they  not 
sweep  it  away  in  some  overflow  ?  Small  streams  are  most 
suitable  to  the  services  required  by  the  Vine,  which  naturally 
loves  a  dry  soil,  and  there  it  yields  the  finest  grapes. 

I  close  this  part  of  the  subject,  by  denying  in  express 
terms,  that  there  is  now,  or  ever  was  such  a  place  as  the 
Baptists  describe.     Who  has  seen  those  mighty  waters  ? 


164  MODE  OF  Baptism. 


ANCIENT  TESTIMONY. 


In  further  pursuing  the  inquiry,  our  way  divides  into  a 
consideration  of  the  primitive  Hebrew  Church,  the  branches 
of  which  extended  throughout  Judea,  Egypt,  and  Abyssinia  ; 
probably  also  eastward  and  southward  ;  especially  south  of 
Jud(!a: — and  of  the  ancient  Church  of  Antioch,  or  the 
Syrian  Church  Avhence  the  first  Christian  Gentile  Church 
extended  its  branches  throughout  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Meso- 
potamia, Parthia,  and  into  India. 


HEBREW    CHRISTIANS. 

The  Egyptian  Church,  being  of  Hebrew  origin,  retains 
circumcision  ;  which  it  places  before  baptism  ;  but  it  baptizes 
the  children  presently  after  circumcision.  Simon  Hist.  East. 
Churches.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  order  observed  by 
the  Hebrew  Christians  generally ;  circumcision  being  bound 
to  time  ;  but  not  so  Baptism.  From  the  question  proposed 
by  Fidus  to  Cyprian,  it  may  be  conjectured,  that  many  Chris- 
tians in  Africa  adhered  to  this  order  of  the  rites.  The 
Deacons  carry  the  children  to  the  altar  ;  m  here  they  are 
anointed  before  baptism ;  and  this  unction,  they  say,  makes 
them  "  new  spiritual  men." 

The  manner  of  Baptism  among  the  Abyssinians,  who  also 
practice  circumcision,  has  been  fully  related  in  the  instance 
of  Mr.  Salt's  Mohammedan  Boy.  The  Abyssinians  are  a 
branch  of  the  Egyptian  Church ;  which  is  a  branch  of  the 
Hebrew  Church. 

the  SYRIAN    CHURCH. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain,  the  genuine  practices  of  the  An- 
cient Christian  Churches  at  Antioch.  Wars  and  revolutions 
have  destroyed  their  authentic  documents  :  but  the  habits  of 
that  Church  must  be  gathered  from  the  practices  of  those 
branches  of  it  which  remain  so  far  as  we  know  them.  Simon 
Hist.  East.  Churches.  The  Georgians  and  the  Iberians 
practice  infant  baptism  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  The 
Godfather  baptizes  the  child  ;  the  Priest  reading  the  baptismal 
words.  Baptism  is  conferred  by  immersion,  and  about  tioo 
years  of  age ;  and  the  child  is  anointed  after  the  plunging. 
They  hold  that  this  anointing  is  the  principal  part  of  the  ordi- 


MODE   OF  BAPTISM.  165 

nance  ;  tlie  Orientals  in  general  call  this  unction  "  the  per- 
fection  of  Baptism." 

"  Baptism  is  administered  among  the  Armenians  ;  Tourne- 
fort's  Voy.  au  Levant,  vol.  iii  ;  by  immersion ;  and  the 
officiating  Priest  pronounces  the  words,  /  baptize  thee  in  the 
Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  plunges  the  child  three  times  in  the  water,  in  memory  of 
the  Holy  Trinity.  Though  our  Missionaries  showed  them 
their  mistake,  in  repeating  all  the  words  at  each  immersion, 
there  are  still  many  Priests  who  do  it  through  mere  i|liorance. 

They  baptize  only  on  Sundays,  if  the  child  be  not  in  dan- 
ger of  death ;  and  the  Priest  gives  it  always  the  name  of  the 
Saint  of  the  Day,  or  of  him  whose  feast  is  to  be  the  Day  fol- 
lowing, if  there  be  no  Saint  for  the  Day,  on  which  the  Bap- 
tism is  celebrated.  The  midwife  carries  the  child  to  Church, 
but  the  godfather  carries  it  home  to  the  mother,  with  the 
sound  of  drums  and  trumpets,  and  other  instruments  of  the 
country.  The  Baptisms  which  are  administered  on  Christ- 
mas-day are  the  most  magnificent,  and  they  put  oil'  to  that 
day  the  Baptism  of  such  children  whose  state  of  health  will 
permit  it.  The  most  famous  are  principally  celebrated  in 
places  where  there  is  a  large  pond  or  river.  For  this  pur- 
pose they  prepare  an  altar  in  a  boat  covered  with  fine  car- 
pets :  tliither  the  clergy  repair  as  soon  as  the  sun  rises,  ac- 
companied by  their  parents,  friends,  and  neighbours ;  for 
whom  they  provide  boats  fitted  and  adorned  in  the  same  man- 
ner. Be  the  season  ever  so  severe,  after  the  ordinary  prayers 
the  Priest  plunges  the  child  tliree  times  into  the  water,  and 
performs  the  Unctions." 

The  Nestorians  or  Chaldeans,  whose  Patriarch  takes  the 
name  of  Patriarch  of  Babylon,  are  a  numerous  body  of 
Christians  ;  estimated  at  three  hundred  thousand  families. — 
They  are  spread  throughout  the  east.  They  baptize  children. 
They  use  no  Holy  Oil  in  Baptism  ;  but  they  use  it  afterwards 
as  a  kind  of  Confirmation.  The  Jacobites  who  inhabit  the 
same  country,  and  say  they  take  their  name  from  the  Apostle 
James,  practice  both  circumcision  and  baptism. 

Dandini,  Voyage  au  Mont.  Liban,  says — "The  Maronites  of 
Mount  Lebanon  as  to  what  regards  the  Sacrament  of  Bap- 
tism, do  not  preserve  in  the  baptismal  fonts  the  water,  which 
has  been  sanctified  on  Holy  Saturday,  for  this  service,  but 
they  sanctify  it  every  time  it  is  wanted,  by  reciting  a  series 
of  long  prayers.  They  plunge  the  person  receiving  baptism, 
tliree  times  into  this  water :  or  they  throw  a  portion  of  it  over 


166  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

him  three  times.  They  pronounce  but  once  the  necessary 
form  of  words,  and  they  give  a  name  to  the  person  at  the 
same  time.  'I'hey  use  no  salt ;  and  they  anoint  not  only  the 
head  but  also  the  breast,  with  the  palms  of  the  hands  which 
they  hold  open.  They  anoint  also  the  shoulders,  with  the 
front  and  the  back  of  the  body,  from  head  to  foot ;  although 
in  some  of  their  books  two  Unctions  are  described,  one  before 
Baptism,  the  other  after  it ;  and  this  last  with  certain  words, 
which  have  the  air  of  conferring  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation. 
They  Jlsured  me  that  they  do  not  use  this  second  Unction, 
and  th  It  such  books  do  not  describe  their  true  practice. — 
The  godfather  does  not  hold  the  child  over  the  font ;  but  the 
priest  having  received  him  from  the  godfather,  receives  the 
child  into  a  large  linen  cloth."  It  should  be  observed  that 
Dandini  was  a  Roman  Priest  sent  by  the  Pope  on  a  special 
commission  to  this  sect  of  Christians.  He  adds :  "  They 
are  accustomed  to  delay  Baptism,  whether  from  negligence, 
or  from  any  other  cause,  till  the  child  be  fifty  or  sixty  days 
old." 

The  true  reason  however  why  the  Maronites  defer  Baptism 
for  fifty  days  is,  because  they  consider  th-^  mother  unclean 
during  the  time  she  keej^s  her  bed  ;  and  the  child  would  con- 
tract ceremonial  uncleanness,  by  remaining  wnth  the  mother, 
in  that  state,  after  having  been  ritually  cleansed  by  Baptism. 

Mr.  Newell,  the  American  Missionary,  who  visited  the 
Syrian  Christians  in  India,  in  1814,  says  :  "  I  made  particular 
inquiry  respecting  the  mode  of  Baptism  in  the  Syrian  Church. 
I  found  it  was  affusion.  In  the  administration  of  this  ordi- 
nance they  mix  cold  and  warm  water  together.  When  I 
asked  them  the  reason  of  this  they  seemed  at  a  loss  for  an 
answer,  and  finally  said,  it  was  because  Christ  was  bap- 
tized in  a  part  of  the  Jordan  where  another  stream  met 
with  it. 

"  Respecting  the  subjects  of  Baptism,  I  made  no  inquiry, 
as  I  supposed  it  was  a  matter  of  notoriety,  that  the  Syrians 
are  pcedobaptists.  Brother  Hall,  who  conversed  with  those 
same  Priests  when  he  was  at  Cochin,  understood  that  chil- 
dren were  usually  baptized  at  eigJd  years  old.'''' 

Is  it  too  much  to  conjecture,  that  those  distant  countries 
to  which  Christianity  penetrated,  have  retained  the  practices 
derived  from  their  forei'athers,  more  punctiliously  than  the 
perturbed  nations  of  Christendom  ?  They  have  been  less 
tormented  with  opposing  opinions,  and  ambition  has  had  less 
scope  for  its  operations  among  them,  than  among  more  ex- 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  167 

tensive  communities  and  interests.  A  slight  sketch  of  their 
history  may  assist  us  in  forming  a  judgment  on  the  antiquity 
of  their  rites. 

"  A  certain  Theophikis  arrived  from  India  very  young, 
among  an  embassy  sent  to  Europe  in  the  thirty-first  year  of 
the  reign  of  Constantine,  A.  D.  337.  He  returned  to  India  in 
the  character  of  a  missionary,  A.  D.  356,  having  staid  nineteen 
years  ;  during  which  his  conversion,  instruction,  &c.  took 
place.  His  voyage  was  by  the  Red  Sea,  where  he  made 
some  converts.  Proceeding  to  the  peninsula  of  India,  he  there 
found  churches  already  established.  This  seems  to  be  the 
first  mention  of  Christians  on  the  coast  of  Malabar.  Cosmas 
Indicopleustes  found  them  there,  A.  D.  540,  and  there  the 
Portuguese  found  them,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, on  their  discovery  of  India. 

This  church  was  of  considerable  standing  before  the  visit 
of  Theophilus.  Its  liturgy  was  then  as  it  is  now,  Syriac. 
The  Bishop,  till  within  these  few  years,  was  consecrated  by 
the  primate  of  Ctesijihon,  the  representative  of  the  ancient 
Babylon.  The  merchant  fleets  sailed  in  the  times  before 
Constantine  annually  to  that  coast  from  Egypt.  By  some  of 
these,  missionaries  might  easily  proceed  to  India.  This  does 
not  carry  up  the  date  of  Christianity  in  that  country  to  the 
time  of  the  Apostles  :  though  more  than  one  of  them  or  their 
immediate  disciples  are  said  by  good  authority  to  have 
preached  the  Gospel  in  India.  I  have  met  with  mention  of 
a  Bishop  in  India,  about  A.  D.  180.  They  are  called  Chris- 
tians of  St.  Thomas.  — Kerr's  Report  La  Croze.  Eusebius. 

GREEK  CHURCH. 

We  come  now  to  the  Greek  Church,  whose  authority  in 
favour  of  immersion  is  strongly  pleaded  by  the  Baptists 
although  they  deny  their  testimony  in  respect  of  Pcedobap- 
tism.  Surely,  if  it  be  authority  for  one  practice,  it  is  au- 
thority also  for  the  other.  It  is  impossible  to  account  for  the 
"  corruption^''  of  the  church  in  baptizing  children,  unless  it 
were  an  original  injunction  :  -since  no  mistake  could  occur  in 
the  language  used  to  describe  it  in  Scripture  ;  for  this  church 
spoke  the  same  language  which  was  and  still  is  the  dialect  of 
their  country.  It  is  not  possible  to  perceive  by  what  process 
they  could  "  corrvpt"  the  gospel  rite. 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  perceive  by  what  process  they 
varied  immersion   into   baptism.     They  have   done   no  more 


168  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

than  take  a  part  for  the  whole.  This  form  of  error  is  the 
mildest  possible  ;  whereas  if  they  have  substituted  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  for  that  of  men  and  women,  that  is  the  gross- 
est possible  form  of  error.  It  is  the  renunciation  of  a  fixed 
Apostolic  principle,  for  the  reception  of  a  contrary  principle ; 
in  direct  violation  of  Scripture  and  Tradition,  of  their  origi- 
nal Churches,  and  of  their  best-instructed  Fathers.  Common 
Charity  is  at  no  loss  which  side  to  take  on  this  question ;  and 
Scripture  and  Charity  coincide, 

"  Baptism  is  performed  by  Immersion.  It  is  reiterated 
three  times,  at  each  time  plunging  in  the  whole  body  of  the 
child,  which  the  curate  holds  under  the  arms.  At  the  first 
Immersion  he  pronounces  in  his  Language  a  Form  of  Words, 

that  signify  ;  Such  a  one the  Servant  of  God,  is  baptized 

in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  now,  for  ever,  and  in  Secula  Secu- 
lorum."  At  the  second  Immersion  he  says,  Such  a  one  -— 
the  Servant  of  God,  is  baptized,  in  the  Name  of  the  Son,  6fC. 
At  the  third,  In  the  Name  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  god- 
father answers  every  time,  So  be  it.  The  parents  do  not 
usually  present  the  child  till  eight  days  after  its  birth.  On 
the  day  of  its  Baptism,  they  take  care  to  warm  a  quantity  of 
water,  and  to  throw  into  it  flowers  of  a  grateful  scent. 
After  the  papa  has  blown  upon  it  and  blessed  it,  pouring  into 
it  some  sacred  oil,  then  with  it  they  anoint  the  body  of  the 
child  so  thoroughly,  that  hardly  any  of  the  water  can  dwell 
upon  it.  They  throw  into  a  hole  that  is  under  the  altar,  all 
that  has  been  used  in  the  ceremony.  The  Greeks  so  firmly 
believe  that  sprinkling  of  water  on  the  head  of  the  child  is 
insufficient  for  Baptism,  that  frequently  they  re-baptize  the 
Latins  who  embrace  their  Communion.  — Tournefort's  Voy- 
age, Vol.  1. 

"  The  Muscovites  have  a  custom  if  there  are  many  chil- 
dren to  be  baptized,  that  the  Font  is  emptied  for  each  child, 
and  other  water  is  consecrated ;  it  being  their  persuasion, 
that  the  former  being  soiled  with  the  impurity  of  that  Child's 
original  Sin,  who  had  been  baptized  before,  it  is  not  fit  to 
cleanse  a  second,  much  less  a  third.  They  dip  the  child 
three  times,  pronouncing  the  ordinary  words."  "  Apostate 
Christians,  Turks,  or  Tartars,  receive  Baptism  in  a  brook  or 
river,  whereinto  they  are  plunged  over  head  and  ears." — 
Ambass.  Trav. 

The  reason  for  this  is  evident.  Running  water  has  al- 
ways been  chosen  for  immersion.  Even  the  Heathen  pre- 
ferred streams,  as  the  Hindoos  at  this  day  prefer  the  Ganges. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  169 

Hence  the  disciples  of  John  say,  he  baptized  in  "  living 
water;" — the  Jordan.  Hence  he  baptized  at  Enon,  because 
there  were  many  streams  ihere  ;  and  hence  the  Jewish  priests 
Avere  so  scrupulous,  that  according  to  Lightfoot,  if  the  water 
in  their  reservoir  vessels  had  stood  more  than  a  few  hours 
without  running  over,  they  held  it  unfit  for  purification,  and 
drew  fresh  water.  Nothing  can  more  clearly  express  the 
ritual  cleansing  of  the  person  from  guilt :  and  it  is  in  the  in- 
stance of  these  Christians,  a  remain  of  that  "  putting  away  of 
the  FILTH  of  {\\e  flesh,"  of  that  "  waslmig  of  the  bodies  of  be- 
lievers in  pure  water,"  which  was  certainly  practised  in  the 
Apostles'  time,  previous  to  Baptism.  We  have  something  of 
it  among  ourselves,  in  the  cleanliness  of  the  children  pre- 
sented for  baptism  ;  and  in  the  cleanliness  of  the  mother,  on 
such  occasions ;  as  the  clean  white  dress  anciently  worn 
after  baptism,  was  a  mark  of  a  new  life  begun,  and  of  putting 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  in  a  way  of  professional  holiness. 

Hence,  Baptism  was  administered  under  a  variety  of  forms. 
In  some  churches.  Baptism  did  not  supersede  circumcision. 
Elsewhere,  the  priest  did  not  baptize  the  child.  Some  also 
practised  Trine  immersion.  In  some  churches.  Baptism  was 
administered  by  immersion  or  by  pouring — and  the  sacra- 
mental words  are  pronounced  once,  or  three  times — but  in 
all  those  varying  ceremonies  the  essential  intent  of  the  rite 
is  preserved';  because  the  subject  of  the  ordinance  is  conse- 
crated to  the  Trinity  ! 

Notwithstanding  the  evils  and  the  superstitions  which  are 
the  natural  consequences  of  accepting  metaphorical  expres- 
sions, as  valid  arguments,  and  reducing  them  to  practice,  as 
if  they  were  literal  propositions — yet  the  overpowering  au- 
thority of  that  which  describes  believers  as  "  buried  with 
Christ  in  Baptism,"  is  urged  ;  and  disregarding  the  order  of 
the  Apostle's  words,  and  consequently  the  true  bearing  of  his 
aro-ument,  planting  is  placed  before  baptisin  :  a  demonstrative 
proof  that  the  meaning  of  the  passage  is  not  accurately  un- 
derstood. It  is  said  of  persons  approaching  the  baptismal 
water — "  They  are  about  to  be  planted  together  in  the  likeness 
of  his  death,  being  buned  with  him  by  Baptism  into  death  ; 
and  they  hope  to  be  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  his 
resurrection."  What  a  jumble  of  incoherencies  !  I  will  not 
affirm  that  neither  burial  nor  planting  has  any  business  here  ; 
but  these  terms,  thus  applied  without  caution  or  explanation^ 
delude  both  speaker  and  hearer. 

In  reading  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 

15 


170  MODE  OF   BAPTISM. 

from  which  these  words  are  taken,  we  find  that  in  order  to 
impress  on  Christian  converts,  the  duty  and  importance  of  a 
holy  life,  after  their  solemn  profession  made,  or  in  the  ex- 
pressive language  of  the  Apostle  Peter  to  convince  them  that 
NOT  the  putting  aioay  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  stipula- 
tion of  a  good  conscience  towards  God  is  salutary  ;  Paul 
uses  three  similitudes  to  denote  more  cfTectually  the  same 
thing  :  what  is  rendered  burial :  what  is  rendered  planting  : 
and  crucifixion  ;  which  all  acknowledge  to  be  unequivocal 
death.  Now  these  comparisons  evidently  increase  in  force 
according  to  the  order  in  which  they  stand  ;  we  are  therefore 
obliged  to  accept  the  first  in  a  degree  of  strength  less  than 
the  second,  as  the  second  is  in  strength  less  than  the  third. 
To  place  planting  if/ore  burial  is  to  violate  the  order  of  ideas 
in  the  Apostle's  mind  ;  and  assuredly,  to  place  burial  before 
death,  crucifixion,  is  an  inversion  of  all  i)ropriety,  alone  suffi- 
cient to  convince  us  that  such  disorder  cannot  be  right. 
Burial  after  death  all  the  world  allows  ;  but  death  after  burial 
is  unnatural,  and  equally  unscriptural. 

Let  us  examine  the  import  of  these  words,  and  endeavour 
to  understand  them  by  obtaining  some  fixed  idea  on  which 
to  reason.  In  our  English  language,  burial  implied  defini- 
tive INTERMENT.  So  wc  have  "  burial  grounds  ;"  grounds 
for  definitive  interment ;  we  have  a  public  "  burial  service," 
for  definitive  interment.  In  this  sense,  I  deny  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  buried.     He  was  not  definitively  interred. 

For  what  does  the  original  word  import  ?  David  saw  cor- 
ruption, and  was  buried ;  but  the  son  of  David  saw  no  corrup- 
tion, and  was  not  buried,  Acts  ii.  sruqi],  in  the  same  sense 
as  his  father  David  was.  We  find  this  word  rendered 
burial,  applied  to  our  Lord,  when  a  living  man,  in  perfect 
health,  and  going  about  according  to  his  custom  ;  for  we  read 
concerning  Mary  ;  Mark  xiv.  8.  E^•^u(ftuaf^ov  eig  lov  evTccq>i.aa- 
fiov ;  "  she  is  come  aforehand  to  anoint  my  body  to  the  burial ;" 
which,  if  they  would  adhere  to  their  own  principles,  they 
ought  to  render  "  to  anoint  my  body  in  the  sepulchre."  This 
the  Apostle  John  expresses,  by  saying,  John  xii.  7,  mjatfiua- 
fiii,  "  unto  the  day  of  my  burial  she  hath  kept  this  ;"  it  was 
on  the  day  of  his  burial  she  expended  this  ;  but  can  our  word 
burial  be  correctly  applied  to  a  living  man  in  perfect  health  ? 
There  is  not  the  smallest  pretence  for  annexing  the  idea  of 
definitive  interment  to  that  day  :  our  Lord's  sufferings  were 
at  that  time  future.  Nevertheless  he  calls  it  the  day  of  his 
sepulchral  rites. 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  171 

But  even  in  the  case  of  dead  bodies,  we  find  the  word 
burial  used,  where  common  sense  forbids  its  application.  This 
inadvertency  misleads  English  readers.  So  we  read.  Acts 
V.  6 ;  that  "  the  young  men  arose,  and  wound  up  Anamas, 
and  carried  him  out,  edaipav,  and  buried  him."  They  did  the 
same.  Verse  10;  sduipav,  to  his  wife  Sapphira :  "They 
buried  her  by  her  husband."  The  term  burial  used  in  these 
cases,  in  the  sense  of  definitive  interment  cannot  be  accepted. 

What !  bury  a  man,  definitively  inter  him,  his  nearest  and 
dearest  relations  not  knowing  of  his  death !  even  his  wife 
remaining  in  perfect  ignorance  of  his  decease ! — Bury  a 
Avoman,  too,  6y  men!  Contrary  to  decency!  Contrary  to 
the  custom  of  the  country  !  Contrary  to  the  laws !  Contrary 
to  every  thing  human  and  divine !  Can  there  be  stronger 
proof  that  the  word  rendered  to  bury,  must  be  taken  here  in  a 
sense  very  distinct  from  that  of  definitive  interment,  although 
applied  to  persons  no  longer  living. 

Even  in  the  parable  of  the  rich  man,  who  is  said  to  be 
buried,  Luke  xvi.  22  ;  our  Lord  does  not  mean  to  admit  of 
the  smallest  interval  between  his  death  and  punishment.  He 
died ;  and  while  his  body  was  preparing  for  interment,  his 
soul  was  in  torment. 

Every  thing  concurs  to  support  the  explanation  given  by 
Parkhurst,  in  his  Dictionary.  He  says, the  word  "  includes 
the  \y\io\e  funereal  apparatus  of  a  dead  body.  To  prepare  a 
corpae  for  burial,  as  by  washing,  anointing,  swathing,  &c. 
Matth.  xxvi.  12  ;  the  instance  of  Mary  anointing  our  Lord, 
while  living  ;  "  She  did  it  for  my  burial."  John  xix.  40  ;" 
the  instance  of  our  Lord's  body  prepared  by  Joseph  of  Arima- 
thea,  and  Nicodemus. 

The  Jewish  ceremonies  previous  to  definitive  interment 
were  always  reckoned  strict  and  essential  parts  of  their  re- 
ligion. The  Jews  have  institutions  to  enforce  them.  They 
cannot  be  omitted.  Those  who  attempt  it  incur  the  greater 
excom.muni cation.  In  our  present  inquiry,  we  need  only  con- 
sider two  :  washing  and  anointing.  If  we  examine  how 
far  these  preparatory  services  were  applied  to  the  dead  body 
of  Christ,  we  shall  find  that  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  accord- 
ing to  Scripture,  he  could  not  have  been  buried,  definitively 
interred.  He  himself  had  hinted,  while  living,  that  although 
anointing  was  a  customary  funereal  preparation,  yet  that  his 
body  had  received  all  the  anointing  it  ever  should  have  ;  and 
accordingly,  the  good  women,  his  disciples,  who  "  saw  how 
they  laid  him,"  went  away  into  the  city,  and  prepared  spices, 


172  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

and  ointments,  and  came  in  the  morning  early,  that  they  might 
anoint  him  ;  but  his  resurrection  disappointed  their  purpose, 
Luke  xxiii.  56  ;  Mark  xv.  47. 

If  this  second  step  in  the  preparation  for  definitive  interment, 
ANOINTING,  had  not  passed  on  our  Lord,  how  could  he  be 
definitively  interred  7  If  he  were  drfinilively  interred,  how 
could  the  women  expect  to  obtain  his  body,  that  they  might 
anoint  it  ?  Who  would  disinter  a  body — to  continue  the  pre- 
paratory services  proper  before  it  was  committed  to  the 
grave  !  What  a  contradiction  in  terms  !  That  our  Lord's 
body  was  washed,  is  evident;  for  the  Apostle  John  says, 
John  xix.  40  ;  it  was  "  clothed  in  linen  cloths" — which  was 
never  done  till  after  washing  :  and  indeed,  no  body  could  ever 
require  this  more  than  our  Lord's  body,  for  he  had  been 
repeatedly  baptized  in  his  own  blood  ;  his  blood  had  been 
poured  out  over  him. 

That  WASHING  was  the  first  preparation  for  interment,  is 
evident  from  the  instance  of  Dorcas ;  Acts  ix.  37  ;  "  who 
fell  sick,  and  died  ;  whom  when  they  had  washed,  they  laid 
in  an  upper  chamber."  It  was  to  such  washing  at  death  that 
the  Jews  compared  the  ritual  washing  bestowed  on  their  con- 
verts ;  that  washing  indicating  ceremonial  death  in  the  party  ; 
because  such  washing  indicated  a  state  of  natural  death  in 
the  body  which  received  it,  according  to  the  custom  of  their 
whole  nation.  In  like  manner  our  Lord's  body  was  washed. 
Moreover,  as  Dorcas  was  removed  for  convenience  to  an 
upper  chamber,  so  was  our  Lord  removed  to  an  unfinished 
tomb  in  the  garden.  There  was  no  time  for  more  ;  and 
although  spices  were  thrown  over  him,  yet  even  this  was  in- 
complete ;  for  the  women  who  designed  to  anoint  him,  also 
"  brought  spices."  If  then  this  preparation  for  intended  em- 
balmment was  so  strongly  pressed  for  time,  and  therefore  so 
slightly  executed ;  if  the  second  preparation  for  interment, 
ANOINTING,  had  not  been  commenced,  but  was  postponed, 
and  attempted  on  the  third  day  after  his  being  deposited  in 
Joseph's  tomb,  what  argument  can  be  founded  on  the  delusive 
use  of  the  term  "  buried'"  in  our  version,  as  importing  the 
grave  in  which  his  body  lay  !  Was  he  not  truly  and  without 
equivocation  definitively  interred  ? 

J^et  us  apply  this  view  of  the  state  of  our  Lord's  body,  on 
which  the  sepulchral  rites  were  begun,  to  the  subject  under 
consideration.  How  was  the  baptism  of  believers  assimilated 
to  this  ? 

1 ,  I    answer  : — Whoever   was   ritually  united  to    Christ, 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  173 

was  baptized  into  the  profession  of  his  death,  by  that  washi?ig 
at  baptism  which  "  put  away  the  fiUh  of  the  flesh  ;" — by  that 
washing,  which  all  considered  as  importing  death ;  which  all 
esteemed  a  proof  of  death  ;  and  which  all  took  for  death,  and 
called  death.  Such  a  person  was  conformed  to  what  had 
passed  on  Christ's  body.  He  was  not  definitively  interred, 
for  Christ  was  not  definitively  interred ;  but  he  underwent 
the  ritual  preparation  for  definitive  interment,  as  Christ  under- 
went the  mortuary  preparation  for  definitive  interment.  The 
resemblance  is  exact  and  striking.  It  gives  also  the  true 
import  of  this  comparison — baptized  into  a  conformity  to  that 
preparation  for  definitive  interment  which  had  passed  on 
Christ  ;  washed  from  former  sins  and  pollutions  ;  as  Christ 
Avas  washed  from  natural  defilements,  and  from  the  effects  of 
his  sufferings.  For  Avhat  purpose  is  this  death  ? — that  we 
might  afterwards  "  walk  in  newness  of  life."  The  Apostle 
reserves  his  particle  of  likeness  for  the  proper  action  of  bap- 
tism, that  which  represented  rising  again,  as  Christ  rose  again, 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father. 

2.  Although  the  Apostle  does  not  describe  the  baptism  of 
converts  as  possessing  any  resemblance  to  the  death  of  Chx'ist ; 
yet  he  does  describe  what  is  rendered  planting,  as  possess- 
ing such  resemblance,  to  express  which  he  employs  a  signi- 
ficant and  specific  term,  6,«otw,«aT«. 

Macknight  endeavouring  to  explain  this  allusion,  says  : 
"  The  burying  of  Christ  and  of  believers  in  baptism,  is  fitly 
enough  compared  to  the  planting  of  seeds  in  the  earth,"  &c. 
How  strangely  ignorant  are  some  learned  men!  Seeds  are 
NOT  planted :  they  are  soion ;  and  the  Apostle  speaks  ex- 
pressly and  repeatedly  of  the  body  as  sown  in  the  earth  by 
definitive  interment,  when  his  subject  related  to  a  body  so  de- 
posited ;  then  he  employs  a  distinct  and  proper  word,  1  Cor. 
XV.  43,  aneiQstai,  to  signify  definitive  interment,  or  sowing. 

The  proper  sense  of  the  term  here  used,  we  learn  from 
the  Apostle  James,  in  whose  Epistle,  Jam.  i.  21,  it  denotes 
ENGRAFTING.  What  is  the  process  of  engrafting  ? — The 
scion  is  wholly  and  entirely  removed  from  the  parent  stock  ; 
— no  longer  draws  nourishment,  or  influence  from  it ;— no 
longer  depends  on  that  for  vitality  and  progress,  Rom.  xi.  17; 
but  draws  nourishment  and  inflnence  from  another  root,  de- 
pends on  another  stem  for  vitality  and  progress  ;  and  is  wholly 
supported  by  its  new  connection.  Is  not  this  the  exact  "  sim- 
ilitude" of  Christ's  personal  state  in  heaven  ?  No  longer 
connected  with  this  world  by  bodily  ties  ; — no  longer  partaU- 

15* 


174  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

ing  of  earthly  food,  or  drinking  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  ; — ^no 
longer  subject  to  bodily  inconveniences— to  suffering,  to  insult 
and  to  death  : — He  being  raised,  dieth  no  more.  His  resur- 
rection is  to  glory — and  he  draws  all  his  honours  from  the 
blissful  state  and  world  :  he  is  transplanted  from  earth  to 
heaven.  In  like  manner,  converts,  heathen  converts  especi- 
ally, at  their  profession  of  Christ,  are  transplanted  into  a 
new  state.  Old  things  are  done  away,  all  things  are  become 
new.  Old  connections  are  shaken  off ;  old  practices  are 
abandoned  ;  old  principles  are  disavowed  ;  old  names  even 
are  relinquished.  The  old  man  is  no  more.  Instead  of  these 
old  things,  the  newly  transplanted  person  draws  nourishment 
►and  influence  from  his  new  connection  ;  depends  on  his  new 
source  for  vitality  and  progress  ;  is  wholly  supported  by  a 
new  sap,  and  possesses  a  new  life,  to  be  dated  and  reckoned 
from  the  day  of  his  transplantation.  "  If,  then,  we  have  been 
transplanted  conformably  to  the  similitude  of  Christ's  death, 
we  shall  be  further,  into  that  of  his  resurrection  as  the  direct 
consequence  ;"  spending  the  remainder  of  our  time  in  godly 
fear,  and  bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  genuine  piety.  Col.  iii.  1. 
This  resurrection  is  from  the  death  of  sin,  to  a  new  life  of 
holiness  ;  and  is  manifested  on  earth — not  in  heaven. 

3.  This  sense  is  confirmed  by  the  import  of  the  third 
simile,  crucifixion,  on  the  consequences  of  which  the 
Apostle  reasons  at  length.  Our  old  man  is  crucified  with 
Christ : — in  order  that  as  in  baptism  we  professed  death  unto 
sin,  by  undergoing  a  metaphorical  death,  washing,  prepara- 
tory to  interment  : — in  order  that  as  in  transplantation  we  broke 
off  all  connection  with  our  former  state  — so  in  this  cruci- 
fixion, "  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed.''''  The  Apostle's 
purpose  is  one,  though  his  similies  be  three.  He  exhorts, 
that  after  baptism  we  should  walk  in  newness  of  life  ;  that 
after  transplantation  we  should  conform  to  the  holiness  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  ;  that  after  crucifiocion,  we  should 
"  yield  ourselves  unto  God,  as  those  who  are  alive  from  the 
dead,  and  our  members  as  instiuraents  of  righteousness  unto 
God."  These  similies  are  three  ;  but  the  purpose  of  them 
all  is  one.  The  last  also  is  the  strongest.  The  middle  one 
Ls  marked  Ijy  the  point  of  similitude  ;  the  first  is  the  weakest, 
and  preparatory  to  the  others.  They  must  stand  prepared 
for  interment,  transplanted,  crucified.  To  violate  their  order 
IS  to  wrong  the  Apostle. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  understand  a  literal  version  of  the 
argument. — '•  How  shall  we,  who  are  dead  to  sin,  live   any 


MODE  OF  BAPTISM.  175 

longer  therein  ?  Know  ye  not  that  whosoever  of  us  are  bap- 
tized, etg,  to  a  profession  of  Jesus  Christ,  are  baptized,  eig,  to 
a  profession  of  his  death  ?  We  are  therefore  prepared  for 
interment,  diu,for  the  purpose  of  Baptism,  sig,  to  a  profession 
of  his  death,  *»■«,  in  order  that  in  like  manner  as  Christ  was 
raised  from  the  dead,  diu,for  the  purpose  of  the  glory  of  the 
Father,  so  also  to  the  glory  of  the  Father  we  should  walk  in 
newness  of  life.  So  surely  as  we  have  been  transplanted 
together  by  similitude  of  his  death,  moreover,  much  more,  by 
that  of  his  resurrection,  we  shall  be.  Knowing  this,  there- 
fore our  old  man  is  crucified  with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin 
might  be  destroyed,  that  we  should  not  henceforth  serve  sin : 
— for  the  dead  is  discharged  from  sin." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  resurrection  after  crucifixion 
is  intended  for  this  life  ;  and  that  the  resurrection  after  baptism 
is  intended  for  this  life  ;  the  inference  is  undeniable,  that  the 
resurrection  after  planting  must  also  be  intended  for  this  life. 
See  how  easily  by  foolishly  realizing  a  metaphorical  expres- 
sion into  a  literal  proposition,  Hymeneus  and  Philetus  might 
err  concerning  the  faith,  2  Tim.  ii.  18,  saying  that  "the  re- 
surrection is  past  already,"  in  baptism  ! 

The  Latin  term  immersion,  to  an  English  reader,  is  not  a 
translation  of  the  Greek  term  baptize ; — which  Greek  terra 
sutlers  extreme  violence  when  forced  into  English  by  the 
term  plunging.  I  have  shown,  that  the  baptism  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  descended — that  the  baptism  of  Nebuchadnezzar  de- 
scended— that  the  baptism  received  by  the  ancient  Israelites 
also  descended — that  the  use  of  the  word  baptize  by  the  Lxx, 
stands  opposed  to  the  sense  of  plunging— \hdX  the  Hebrew 
rite  of  washing  was  long  prior  to  Christ,  and  was  continued 
in  Christian  baptism,  with  additions  ; — as  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  a  continuation  of  a  part  of  the  Passover  with  additions  ; 
— that  the  additions  to  ritual  washing  were  the  true  and  proper 
Baptism  — i\\Ki  Scriptiure  enables  us  to  distinguish  between 
the  two  actions  of  immersion  and  baptism — that  the  churches 
which  best  understood  the  language  of  the  New  Testament, 
it  being  their  mother  tongue,  observed  and  perpetuated  the 
distinction  between  immersion  and  baptism  —  that  the  dis- 
tinction between  immersion  and  baptism  obtains  at  this  day, 
and  is  still  practised  ;  that  this  ritual  washing,  or  cleansing, 
resembling  that  always  applied  to  the  dead,  recalled  the  idea 
of  mortal  departure — while  the  addition  made  to  it  under  the 
Gospel  dispensation,  expressed  and  signified  professional 
holiness,  a  resurrection,  a   newness  of  life  ;    therefore,    the 


176  MODE  OF  BAPTISM. 

general  inference  is,  this  ;  whoever  adopts  IMMERSION 

WITHOUT  ADDING  POURING,  MAY  CERTAINLY  CLAIM  ALL 
THE  CREDIT  DUE  TO  THE  REVIVAL  OF  AN  ANCIENT  JewisH 
CEREMONY,      SIGNIFYING      DEATH  ;  BUT      CHRISTIAN 

BAPTISM  signifying  LIFE,  THEY  DO  NOT  PRAC- 
TICE. 


CHRISTIAN   BAPTISM 


AS  ADMINISTERED 


APOSTLES  AND  EVANGELISTS, 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS. 


THIRTEEN    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  ENGRAVINGS. 


"  DISTINGUISH  THINGS  WHICH  DIFFER. 

Of  the  hundred  testimonies  quoted  from  critics  by  Mr. 
Booth,  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  in  his  "  Poedobaptism  Ex- 
amined," ninety-nine  are  repetitions  or  copies  reducible  to 
the  effect  and  power  of  one  or  two  original  witnesses.  He 
thus  quotes  Deylingius,  who  says  :  "  So  long  as  the  Apostles 
lived,  as  many  believe,  immersion  only  was  used ;  to  which 
afterwards,  perhaps,  they  added  a  kind  of  affusion  ;  such 
as  the  Greeks  practice  at  this  day,  after  having  performed 
THE  trine  immersion."  Do  the  Greeks,  at  this  day,  add  a 
kind  of  POURING,  after  immersion  ? — then  they  do  not  con- 
sider immersion  as  the  w^hole  of  Baptism  but  only  as  prepara- 
tory to  it ;  exactly  as  their  disciples  in  Abyssinia  perform  the 
ordinance,  and  "  perhaps"  this  they  received  from  the  Apos- 
tles' days.  But  since  Baptism  has  certainly  undergone  many 
variations,  what  confidence  is  due  to  the  Greeks  of  this  day  ? 
How  far  may  this  '' perhaps"  he  converted  into  certainty? — 
always  supposing  that  the  higher  we  can  trace  the  evidence, 
the  nearer  to  the  first  century,  the  more  effectually  it  justifies 
our  reliance.  To  which  we  add,  that  independent  witnesses, 
if  possible  to  be  obtained,  are  worthy  of  more  than  double 
honour  :  their  united  testimony  is  credible  in  a  much  greater 
ratio,  than  the  testimony  of  each  taken  singly  ;  or  if  supposed 
to  stand  alone. 

Montfaucon  observed  in  the  Preface  to  his  Antiquite  Ex- 
pliquSe,  that  we  learn  a  thousand  particulars  from  ancient  re- 
presentations, sculptures,  &c.,  concerning  points  of  classic 
inquiry,  which  are  not  mentioned  by  any  of  the  old  writers. 
Robinson,  in  his  History  of  Baptism,  introduced  those  ancient 
representations  of  that  Christian  ordinance,  which  he  con- 
ceived might  illustrate  the  subject.     For  these   speak  the 


180  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  ENGRAVINGS. 

same  language  to  all  nations.  They  present  no  difficulty  of 
construction,  nor  variation  of  sense  in  particles  or  prepositions  ; 
the  learned  and  the  unlearned  may  translate  them  with  equal 
correctness,  and  with  equal  facility.  They  are  vouchers 
for  the  time  in  which  they  were  executed ;  and  though  we 
cannot  hear  the  men  of  that  generation  viva  voce,  and  we  dare 
not  put  words  into  their  lips,  yet  we  may  see  their  testimony, 
and  judge  of  its  relevancy  to  the  inquiry  that  engages  our 
attention.  For  these  reasons,  and  in  full  reliance  on  their 
authenticity  and  authority,  the  following  subjects  have  been 
compiled. 


181 


I.  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


This  subject  is  an  ornament  on  the  door  of  the  great  Church 
at  Pisa.  From  the  shape  of  the  characters  it  must  be  of  very 
ancient  workmanship.  The  motto  upon  it  is  Baptizat.  It 
was  obviously  made  for  some  Christian  establishment.  Ac- 
cording to  the  tradition  current  among  the  Pisans,  it  was 
brought  from  Jerusalem  by  their  Crusaders,  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  twelfth  century. 


16 


183 


ir.    BAPTISM  OF  CHRIST  IN  JORDAN. 


This  picture  is  taken  from  the  Church  on  the  Via  Ostiensis, 
at  Rome.  The  outside  is  a  plate  of  brass,  covering  a  sub- 
stance of  wood.  The  figures  are  partly  in  relief,  partly  en- 
graved. Some  of  the  hollows  are  inlaid  with  silver.  The 
inscriptions  are  in  Greek,  with  the  motto — BAUTICHC. 

The  door  which  it  covers  is  dated  1070  ;  but  the  plate  is 
much  older  than  the  door  ;  and  from  the  letters,  it  is  mani- 
festly of  Greek  origin  and  very  ancient  workmanship. 


185 


III.  JESUS  BAPTIZED  IN  THE  RIVER  JORDAN. 


This  picture  is  copied  from  the  door  of  the  Church  at 
Beneventum,  which  was  one  of  the  first  cities  in  Italy  where 
the  Gospel  was  introduced.  The  ordinance  of  Baptism  is 
represented  as  conjoining  both  Immersion  and  Aspersion.  It 
is  rudely  executed,  and  extremely  ancient. 


16- 


187 


IV.  BAPTISM  OF  CHRIST    IN  JORDAN. 


This  representation  is  the  centre-piece  of  the  dome  of  the 
Baptistery  at  Ravenna ;  which  building  was  erected  and 
decorated  in  454. 

John  the  Baptist  is  drawn  as  standing  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  holding  in  his  left  hand  an  oblong  cross,  and  in  his 
right  hand  a  shell  from  which  he  pom-s  water  on  the  head  of 
Christ  who  is  standing  in  the  water  up  to  his  waist.  Over 
the  Lord  is  a  crown  of  glory,  and  the  figure  of  a  dove,  sym- 
bolizing the  Holy  Spirit.  The  rite  of  Baptism  appears  to  be 
performed  both  by  Immersion  and  Affusion  at  the  same  time. 
The  name  jordann  is  written  over  the  head  of  the  mytholo- 
gical figure,  which  according  to  the  custom  of  the  ancients 
represented  that  river. 


189 


V.  CHRIST  BAPTIZED  IN  JORDAN. 


This  is  a  representation  in  Mosaic  of  the  Baptism  of  Christ 
in  Jordan,  preserved  in  the  Church,  in  Cosmedin,  at  Ravenna, 
which  was  erected,  A.  D.  401. 

In  the  centre  is  Christ  our  Saviour  in  the  river  Jordan. 
On  a  rock  stands  John  the  Baptist,  in  his  left  hand  is  a  bent 
rod,  and  his  right  hand  holds  a  patera,  shell ;  from  which  he 
POURS  WATER  on  the  head  of  the  Redeemer  ;  over  whom 
descends  the  dove,  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  ex- 
panded wings,  and  emitting  rays  of  glory  and  grace. 


191 

VI.  ANCIENT  BATH. 


In  order  to  remove  all  doubts  whether  Baptism  might  not 
be  administered  in  the  house  of  the  person  receiving  it,  by- 
means  of  those  baths  with  which  every  Roman  family  was 
furnished,  this  plate  contains  one  example  of  those  articles. 
Some  of  the  baths  were  small  and  might  be  removed  from  one 
room  into  another,  for  many  purposes  as  well  as  Baptism. 
In  such  a  bath  the  Believers  in  the  house  of  Cornelius  might 
have  been  baptized.  The  Philippian  jailor  having  used 
such  a  portable  bath  to  wash  the  lacerated  bodies  of  Paul 
and  Silas  probably,  "  straightway"  used  the  very  same  bath 
for  the  purpose  of  "  washing  away  Ms  sins  ;"  and  of  afterwards 
receiving  Baptism  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.* 

'  The  bath  represented  above  is  still  extant  in  the  celebrated  Baptistery  of  Con- 
stantine  at  Rome  near  the  Lateran.  It  was  used  for  Baptism  from  the  earliest  times. 


193 


VII.    BAPTISM  OF  A  HEATHEN  KING  AND  QUEEN. 


This  picture  represents  the  King  and  his  Queen  in  a  family- 
bath  ;  and  in  addition  to  the  immersion,  a  man  in  a  military- 
habit  POURING  water  on  them  from  a  vase.  In  the  original, 
a  number  of  attendants  are  around  them,  witnessing  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  ordinance.  This  monument  of  sculpture 
combines  both  this  delineation  and  also  that  of  engraving 
VIII. ;  and  is  found  at  Chigia,  near  Naples.  From  the  dresses, 
they  are  Longobardi,  who  received  Christianity  through  the 
influence  of  Theolinda,  A.  D.  591.  The  picture  represents 
the  Baptism  of  Argilulfus  the  king,  and  Theolinda,  the  queen 
of  the  Longobardi,  who  occupied  Beneventum  in  the  sixth 
century. 


17 


195 


VIII.    ADMINISTRATION  OF  BAPTISM. 


This  depicts  two  points  of  time.  First ;  the  candidate  is 
seen  kneeling  down  and  praying  near  the  bath  of  water  ;  and 
a  hand  issues  from  a  cloud  above  him,  to  denote  the  acquies- 
cence of  heaven  in  his  petitions.  Second  ;  Baptism  is  ad- 
ministered by  POURING  WATER  out  of  a  vase  on  persons  who 
are  kneeling  on  the  ground,  and  not  immersed  at  all.  Either 
then,  Baptism  was  administered  without  immersion,  hy pouring 
only  ;  notwithstanding  the  convenience  of  the  bath  ;  or  those 
persons  had  previously  been  immersed,  and  afterwards  re- 
ceived Baptism,  as  a  distinct,  subsequent,  and  separate  act. 
Either  of  these  facts,  and  one  of  them  must  be  the  truth,  cuts 
up  the  Baptist  system  by  the  roots. 


197 


IX.    BAPTISM  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


The  boy  is  unclothed,  and  the  ordinance  is  administered 
by  pouring.  This  representation  shows  that  the  present 
Abyssinian  mode  of  Baptism,  as  narrated  by  Mr.  Salt, 
anciently  was  extant  among  the  Greeks  as  well  as  among 
the  Romans.  For  although  this  plate  is  at  Rome,  yet  it  was 
the  work  of  Greek  artists^  in  the  ninth  or  tenth  century. 


17* 


199 


X.  LAURENTIUS  BAPTIZING  ROMANUS. 


This  representation  is  in  the  Church  of  Lawrence,  extra 
muros,  at  Rome.  The  jugs  or  vases  are  remarkable  ;  being 
the  same  as  in  other  pictures  of  far  remoter  antiquity.  The 
action  of  pouring  is  the  same,  and  by  an  Ecclesiastic. 

In  the  other  Baptisms  portrayed  in  Plates  VII.  and  VIII. ;  as 
they  were  performed  in  an  inconvenient  manner  and  place,  it 
might  be  alleged,  that  the  peculiar  vase  was  adopted,  because 
there  was  not  a  better  vehicle  at  hand  ;  but  this  objection  does 
not  apply  to  this  case,  because  Lawrence,  the  Martyr-preacher 
is  depicted  as  formally  administering  Baptism  in  a  regular 
Baptistery  by  pouring  ! 


201 


XI.     BAPTISM  OF  THE  EMPEROR  CONSTANTINE. 


This  is  a  representation  of  the  Baptism  of  Constantine  the 
Great.  The  Emperor  receiving  Baptism  is  immersed  in  the 
bath,  metaphorically  called  the  "  laver  of  regeneration  ;"  and 
Eusebius  adds  the  proper  rite  of  Baptism,  by  pouring  water 
on  the  Monarch's  head. 


BAPTISMAL    CEREMONIES. 


We  thus  adduce  twelve  ancient  examples  of  Baptism,  all 
administered  by  pouring.  The  number  might  easily  be  made 
up  lo  fifty  I  while  on  the  contrary  not  one  instance  of  plung- 
ing can  or  ever  will  be  adduced.  The  numerous  instances 
of  Baptism  by  pouring  plainly  show,  that  the  action  and  atti- 
tude of  the  administrator  of  the  ordinance  and  of  the  person 
submitting  to  the  rite  were  constantly  the  same.  Whence  as 
the  uniformity  amounts  to  identity,  we  learn  that  they  are  im- 
plicit and  unvarying  repetitions  of  one  original  appointment. 
On  these  representations  of  ancient  Baptism  in  the  engravings, 
the  antiquary  Ciampini  reasons  to  the  following  effect.  In 
these  pictures  we  see  Chirst  immersed  in  water,  and  John 
also  POURING  WATER  On  his  head.  This  raises  a  doubt 
whether  Baptism  should  be  performed  by  immersion,  or  by 
aspersion,  or  by  both.  That  the  rite  of  Baptism  was  an- 
ciently performed  by  immersion,  we  have  the  testimony  of 
numerous  representations,  and  of  various  writers. 

He  proceeds  to  investigate  the  difficulties  presented  by 
these  testimonies  ;  which  he  reduces  chiefly  to,  I.  The  person 
who  administers  Baptism ; — who  is  a  layman,  not  an  eccle- 
siastic. II.  Baptism  is  administered  by  immersion,  and  by 
aspersion.  He  concludes,  after  considerable  argument,  as  to 
the  first  difficulty,  that  all  the  canonists  agree  that  in  cases 
of  necessity,  laymen  may  administer  Baptism. 

He  proceeds  to  draw  the  following  inferences  on  the 
second  point. 

"  It  is  beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  first  faithful  were  baptized 
wherever  convenience  offered  : — some  in  rivers,  others  in 
fountains,  others  in  lakes,  others  by  the  way-side,  others  in 
the  sea,  others  in  private  houses.  The  mode  of  Baptism  also 
differed,  as  is  believed ;  insomuch  that  if  they  were  in  a  place 
convenient  for  immersion,  baptism  was  conferred  by  immer- 


204  BAPTISMAL  CEREMONIES. 

sion  :  if  they  were  in  a  place  where  streams,  fountains,  or 
other  lesser  waters  were  found,  water  was  poured  on  the 
head." 

Some  writers  think  that  submersion  was  sometimes  prac- 
tised in  baptism.  The  word  first  occurs  in  a  letter  of  Alkwin 
to  iEdwin ;  both  being  Saxons.  They  lived  in  the  eighth 
century.     Trine  submersion  is  alluded  to  by  the  same  writer. 

Ciampini  sums  up  the  whole  in  these  words  :  "  Baptismus 
itaque  primiliva  in  ecclesia,  ut  nuper  exposuimus,  uhicunque  se 
offer ebat  occasio,  celebratur  ;  nam  in  fluminibus  ;  infontibus; 
in  Mari  Domi,  aliisque  in  locis  hoc  primum  ad  salutis  januam 
minislrabalur  sacr amentum."  From  the  expressions  used  by 
this  antiquary,  it  appears  that  he  had  not  arrived  at  any  de- 
terminate opinions  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  as  represented 
by  these  compositions.  He  perceived  their  testimony  and 
acknowledged  their  competence ;  but  he  draws  his  inferences 
with  hesitation  and  indecision. 

It  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  Ciampini,  that  these 
pictures  represent,  as  passing  at  the  same  instant,  actions 
really  distinct ;  because  such  was  the  necessity  under  which 
the  art  of  the  painter  or  sculptor  was  confined.  A  moment's 
consideration  will  demonstrate  this  ; — for  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  not  till  after  our  Lord  had  come  up  out  of 
Jordan  :  yet  in  all  these  subjects  it  is  represented  as  descend- 
ing upon  him  while  in  Jordan :  contrary  to  the  moment  of 
time,  and  to  the  text.  In  like  manner,  the  action  of  the 
Baptist,  pouring,  is  distinct  from  the  prior  immersion,  though 
consecutive  on  it.  Neither  painter  nor  sculptor  could  repre- 
sent this  action  as  distinct  from  the  other,  without  employing 
two  pictures  or  two  sculptures. 

Here  are  five  ancient  and  ecclesiastical  representations,  in 
which  our  Lord  Christ  appears  in  the  water  of  Jordan.  It 
is  to  no  purpose  to  dispute  about  the  power  of  the  Greek  pre- 
position or  particle  :  we  have  only  to  open  our  eyes,  and 
declare  whether  or  not  his  figure  be  partly  immersed  in  the 
water.  It  is  a  question  not  of  grammar,  but  of  appeal  to  the 
senses.     This  is  immersion. 

Although  Jesus  is  in  the  water,  yet  John  is  not.  Every 
one  of  these  representations,  as  also  others  instanced  by 
Robinson,  places  John  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  but  not  in  the 
water.  This  is  clearly  consistent  with  Holy  Scripture,  which 
never  gives  the  least  hint  of  John's  being  in  the  Jordan. 

It  follows  demonstratively,  that  John,  standing  on  the  bank 
and    higher  than   Jesus,  could    not   possibly   plunge   him. 


BAPTISMAL  CEREMONIES.  205 

Unless  lie  were  in  the  water — which  he  is  not — he  could 
not  have  sufficient  power  over  the  person  of  any  one  who  is 
in  the  water  to  plunge  him. 

Supposing  it  possible  that  John  could  have  had  power,  not 
being  himself  in  the  water,  to  plunge  a  person  who  was  in 
the  water,  yet  it  is  clear,  from  these  ancient  ecclesiastical 
representations,  that  he  did  not  exert  that  power.  He  em- 
ployed an  action  entirely  different,  and  even  inconsistent 
with  it :  for  after  the  immersion  of  the  party,  he  administered 
baptism,  by  pouring  water  on  the  head  of  the  subject  bap- 
tized. This  is  the  action  of  all  the  instances  :  not  of  those 
representations  only  which  may  be  attributed  to  the  Latins  ; 
but  of  those  wrought  by  Greeks,  and  for  Greeks.  There  is 
no  room  for  equivocation  here.  The  Greek  letters  prove 
that  they  are  Greek  representations  ;  and  their  conservation 
and  dedication  as  spoils  of  war,  mark  their  origin  in  a  coun- 
try far  distant  from  Italy  ;  where  their  evidence  on  the  subject 
of  Baptism  was  not  anticipated.  Arians  and  Othodox,  who 
agreed  in  nothing  else,  all  attest  to  this  representation. 

These  Greek  and  Latin  workmen,  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  ecclesiastics  under  whose  direction  they  wrought,  to- 
gether with  their  churches,  either  believed  that  John's  baptism. 
was  administered  by  pouring,  or  they  were  guilty  of  a  con- 
spiracy and  intention  to  deceive  their  people  ;  by  representing 
this  action  as  performed  in  a  certain  manner,  when  they  knew 
in  their  hearts  and  consciences  that  it  was  performed  in  a 
manner  totally  different,  absolutely  inconsistent  with 
what  they  represented  ;  and  nothing  less  than  impossible  to 
be  thus  performed  at  the  time,  and  for  the  purpose. — Those 
may  believe  this  who  can.  There  was  no  purpose  to  be 
answered  by  this  flagrant  iniquity.  The  wopkmen  lived  in 
distant  countries  :  they  lived  in  distant  ages  :  how  then  could 
they  combine  ?  Who  "does  not  see  in  these  distinct  evidences 
the  UNIVERSAL  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  action,  as  here 
represented  ? — A  more  forcible  appeal  cannot  be  made  to  the 
heart  and  judgment,  by  means  of  the  senses.  Every  man 
not  stone  blind — or  not  so  blind  as  those  who  will  not  see, 
must  feel  the  force  of  this  appeal.* 

*  I  have  followed  Robinson  through  the  very  work  that  he  selected 
when  composing:  his  "History  of  Baptism,"  and  have  re:>tricted  my 
examples  to  that  collection.  He  notices  the  preceding  representations ; 
but  he  did  not  dare  to  bring  their  figurative  evidence  together:  be- 
cause their  united  testimony  would  completely  have  overturned  the 
Eapti.st  hvpoihe?iis. 

18 


206  BAPTISJIAL  CEREMONIKS. 

Let  US  review  this  part  of  the  evidence,  and  show  the 
proper  application  of  such  testimony.  If  we  inquire  what  is 
the  authority  of  the  Church  of  Abyssinia,  for  administering 
Baptism  after  immersion,  and  distinct  from  that  action,  we 
must  turn  our  eyes  to  the  Greek  Church  who.  says  Deylingius, 
practise  affusion  after  immersion  ;  and  if  we  examine  further, 
the  engravings  show,  that  both  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches 
made  a  distinction  between  the  actions  of  immersion  and 
baptism,  in  the  eighth,  the  sixth,  the  fourth,  and  the  third 
centuries ;  doubtless  grounding  their  practice  on  the  custom 
of  their  forefathers  as  received  from  the  Apostles,  and  strongly 
indicated  in  the  Scripture  instance  of  Philip  and  the  Eunuch. 

Thus  we  trace  the  custom,  by  means  of  these  evidences, 
to  the  fountain-head  of  authority.  Let  it  be  supposed  that  I 
have  misconceived  the  instance  of  Philip  and  the  Eunuch, 
yet  the  Greeks  understood  their  own  language.  They  were 
capable  judges  ;  and  how  came  they  to  establish  this  distinc- 
tion ? — whence  was  their  authority  for  this  practice  ? — Who 
could  enforce  this  innovation,  if  it  had  not  the  countenance 
of  Scripture  ;  and  where  is  that  to  be  found,  beside  the  history 
recorded  in  the  Acts  ?  I  rest  my  interpretation  on  the  obvious 
construction  of  Luke's  words  ;  but  I  support  it,  by  the  consent 
of  all  the  churches,  in  the  early  centuries  of  Christianity, 
from  vihom  it  descended  to  their  successors  and  their  disciples, 
and  by  whom  it  is  maintained  at  the  present  day. 

Of  what  avail,  then,  is  Mr.  Booth's  would-be  dilemma — 
"  Is  there  any  text  that  requires  pouring  in  opposition  to  immer- 
sion. Has  any  passage  of  Sacred  Writ  been  found  that 
enjoins  pouring  water  on  the  face,  head,  in  contradistinction 
to  plunging  the  whole  body  ?.... But  if  immersion  be  not  re- 
quired, in  contradistinction  to  pouring,  and  if  pouring  be  not 
required  in  opposition  to  immersion :  we  should  consider  it 
as  a  favour  if  an  opponent  would  inform  us  what  is  required  ?" 
In  answer  I  observe,  that  if  immersion  preceded  baptism, 
according  to  the  evidences  now  produced,  this  mighty  argument 
is  reduced  to  silence. 

Mr.  Booth's  goodness  was  not  in  exercise  when  he  wrote 
such  a  passage  as  this  : — "  Whether  Guise,  and  those  who 
follow  him,  imagine  the  son  of  Zacharias  lo  have  used  his 
naked  hand,  a  scoop,  a  squirt,  a  brush,  or  a  bunch  of  hyssop, 
I  cannot  say.  The  poet  Gay  has  mentioned  aiiother  instru- 
ment that  is  well  fitted  to  sprinkle  a  multitude  expeditiously  ; 

••  When  dexterous  damsels  twirl  the  sprinkling  MOP." 


BAPTISMAL  CEREMONIES.  207 

Whether  this  was  the  instrument  used  by  John,  we  leave  our 
opposers  to  judge."  This  is  not  wisdom,  if  it  be  wit  :  and  it 
is  not  candour,  if  it  be  cunning.  But  what  say  the  foregoing 
Plates  to  this  particular  ? 

From  the  small  size  of  most  of  the  subjects,  I  find  it  im- 
possible to  distinguish  correctly  that  vehicle  out  of  which 
John  POVRS  water.  Ciampini  calls  it  apa/em  ;  I  have  thought 
it  a.  shell ;  but  it  may  be  a  bowl.  Certainly  it  must  come 
under  the  general  meaning  of  the  Greek  word,  /usjqov  ;  ren- 
dered measure ;  and  the  Scripture  affords  an  allusion  to  it. 
John  Baptist  was  informed  by  his  disciples  that  Jesus  baptized, 
and  all  men  came  to  him  ;  John  iii.  34.  Part  of  his  answer 
is  this  ;  "  He  whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the  words  of 
God ;  for  God  giveth  not  the  Spirit  ex  fiBrqa  ;  out  of  a 
measure  unto  him  ;"  as  water  is  given  at  baptism,  by  his  fore- 
runner, to  those  upon  whom  it  is  poured.  This  is  fixed  to 
the  subject  of  baptism,  by  the  occasion  of  the  story  ;  which 
was  a  question  or  debate  between  the  disciples  of  John  and 
certain  Jews  about  ritual /^wn^cah'on. — That  contention  could 
relate  only  to  the  addition  made  by  John  to  the  xadaqia^ovg  ; 
washings  common  among  the  Jews.  The  querists,  no  doubt, 
attacked  his  new  mode  ;  and  his  authority  for  this  innovation. 
To  no  other  period  of  our  Lord's  life  than  his  baptism  could 
those  words  spoken  by  John  refer,  in  those  early  days  of  his 
ministry,  when  he  had  as  yet  done  comparatively  nothing ; 
and  what  but  the  action  of  giving  could  recall  the  Baptist's 
mind  to  the  recollection  o{ giving  out  of  a  measure  ?  Every 
one  of  the  figures  in  the  engravings,  administering  baptism, 
holds  in  his  hand  what  answers  the  purpose  of,  and  in  effect 
is  that  measure  :  so  that  we  see  clearly  in  what  sense  the 
water  of  baptism  was  really  given  out  of  a  measure, io  the  person 
baptized  ;  for  a  vase,  or  measure  of  capacity  is  a  leading  sense 
of  the  word  metron  ;  and  such  a  vase  is  used  in  those  repre- 
sentations. 

Unable  to  deny  the  authority,  or  the  authenticity  of  these 
representations,  it  is  objected  that  they  are  not  of  the  first,  hnX. 
of  the  third,  or  fourth,  or  fifth  century.  But  this  gives  addi- 
tional strength  to  their  evidence  ?  For  in  the  third,  ox  fourth, 
and  still  more  in  the  fifth  century,  the  administration  of  Bap- 
tism had  departed  greatly  from  its  original  simplicity.  Met- 
aphorical allusions  had  been  multiplied — some  Scriptural,  and 
others  totally  unwarranted.  For  instance — the  baptistery 
had  three  steps  leading  down  to  it.  The  person  descending 
was  supposed  on  the  first  of  these  to  renounce  the   world — 


208  BAPTISMAL  CEREMONIES. 

on  the  second,  to  renounce  the  flesh,  and  on  the  third,  to 
renounce  the  devil. — Then  in  returning  ;  he  was  supposed 
to  ascend  ihe  first  step  in  the  name  of  the  Father — the  second 
step  in  the  name  of  the  Son — and  the  third  step  in  the  name 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Many  other  "  unscriplurals"  also  were 
practised.  In  the  subjects  of  the  preceding  representation 
we  see  nothing  of  all  this  ;  nor  of  any  thing,  the  cross  except- 
ed in  one  of  them,  but  the  simple  rite  :  for  as  to  the  angels 
*'  attending  on  the  Son  of  Man,"  they  are  supposed  to  be  in- 
visible ;  and  as  to  the  different  forms  of  the  glory  and  the 
dove,  they  are  subsequent  to  the  act  of  Baptism.  What  could 
induce  those  Greek  and  Latin  artists  from  the  remotest  an- 
tiquity to  adhere  to  the  one  simple  action ;  to  the  unvaried 
truth  unadulterated  by  metaphorical  allusions — in  contradiction 
to  the  taste  of  their  times  ;  unless  they  had  felt  themselves 
constrained  by  the  unbroken  consent  of  all  Christ's  disciples 
to  represent  Baptism  by  this  mode,  as  being  "  verily  and 
indeed'^  that  to  which  their  Lord  and  Master  had  submitted  ? 
The  Baptists  can  neither  evade  the  force  of  this  truth,  nor 
can  they  answer  this  argiunent ! 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  BAPTISTERIES. 


As  the  practice  of  immersion  ceased,  converts  from  heathen- 
ism gradually  increasing,  the  conveniencies  of  Baptisteries 
were  changed  ;  so  that  now  few  traces  of  their  original 
accommodations  can  be  discovered.  Nevertheless,  we  occa- 
sionally find  hints  which  refer  to  them.  John  the  Deacon, 
in  his  lives  of  the  Neapolitan  Prelates,  says  of  Vincenzio — 
"  Fecit  Baptisterium  fontis  majoris,  et  accubitum  juxta  positum. 
That  accubitum  I  translate  by  the  modern  term  vestry  :  and 
then  the  passage  reads  thus — "  He  made  the  baptistery  of 
the  greater  font,  and  the  vestry  close  by  it.'"  The  mention 
of  the  greater  font  implies  the  existence  of  a  lesser  font ;  and 
the  vestry  informs  us  where  the  priests  and  deacons  might 
wait,  while  the  women  were  unclothed,  receiving  ablution 
from  the  greater  font,  without  any  disparagement  to  modesty. 
The  soldiers  who  beset  a  Baptistery  doubtless  would  assault 
the  vestry  close  to  it. 

Gruter  has  preserved  this  inscription — 

HlC  EST  LONGINIANUS  QUI  FON 

TES  BAPTISMATIS  CONSTRUXIT 
SANCTI  PAPiE   DAMASI  VERSIBUS 
NOBELITATOS. 

A.  D.  394.  Flavins  Macrobius  Longinianus  fuit  praefectus 
Urbi. 

"  This  is  Longinianus  who  constructed  the  Baptismal 
Fonts."  Why  axe  fonts  mentioned  in  the  plural,  unless  as 
in  the  foregoing  instance  of  Vincenzio,  there  were  both  a 
greater  and  a  lesser  font  ?  The  inscription  bears  date  in  the 
year  394,  when  Longinianus  was  the  prasfect,  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  city  of  Rome. 

But  some  person  may  retort  as  an  objection  ;  "  Since  those 
smaller  fonts  were  so  useful,  it  may  be  regretted  that  none  of 

18* 


210  CONSTRUCTION  OF  ANCIENT  BAPTISTERIES. 

them  have  been  preserved  as  evidences  of  the  ancient  prac- 
tice." One  however  still  exists  in  the  Cathedral  at  Syracuse, 
where  it  is  regarded  as  of  most  venerable  antiquity  ;  and  in 
my  judgement,  the  fonts  usual  in  the  parish  churches  of 
Britain  are  those  portable  fonts  now  fixed  in  one  position. 
Of  the  Syracusan  font  tradition  affirms,  that  it  is  the  very 
implement  used  by  their  primitive  Bishop  Marcian.  It  is  of 
marble  ;  small  and  has  two  handles  ;  therefore  was  portable  ; 
but  it  has  a  broad  foot,  on  which  to  stand  steady  ;  and  is  about 
twelve  inches  deep.  This  inscription  is  on  the  font — "  The 
dedicated  present  of  Zosimiis,  who  devotes  to  God  this  Holy 
Cistern  for  the  purpose  of  Sacred  Baptism." — The  term  KPA- 
THPA,  kratera,  cistern  imports  a  receptacle,  from  which 
water  or  wine  is  distributed  at  festivals  to  many  applicants. 
This  holy  cistern  doubtless  was  imitated  in  the  me-te-mak  of 
Abyssinia  ;  which  with  other  evidence  proves  the  existence 
of  smaller  fonts,  at  the  same  time  with  the  larger  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century.* 

The  only  reason  assigned  by  Antiquaries  why  this  font 
cannot  be  more  ancient  than  the  fourth  century  is  this  ;  be- 
cause no  instances  of  Christian  inscriptions  importing  gifts  to 
the  church  are  known  before  that  period  ;  but  the  correct- 
ness of  this  inference  may  be  doubted,  for  the  Heathen  much 
earlier  inscribed  their  gifts  to  their  temples. 

ANAeHMA  lEPOY  BAHTISMAroj 
ZOEIMOY  eE12A£2POi>vros 
TON  KPATHPA  «y<ON 

DoNARHTM  Sacri  Baptismatis 

ZosiMi  Deo  Donum 

Hoc  Vas,  sive,  Hunc  Craterem. 

Siciliae  Inscript  Class  17.  No.  I.— Gualtheri  Monum.  Sicul.— Jac. 
Phil.  Tomasinus  de  Donariis,  Cap.  43.— Paciaudi  de  Sac.  Christian 
Balneis,  Cap.  xvi. 


211 


XII.  JESUS  CHRIST  BAPTIZED  IN  THE  JORDAN 
BY  JOHN  BAPTIST. 


This  picture  is  in  the  small  chapel  of  the  Catacomb  of 
Pontianus,  called  the  "  Chapel  of  the  Baptistery."  Beneath 
the  portraits  is  painted  one  of  those  crosses,  ornamented  with 
precious  stones,  called  Gemmatas ;  to  the  arras  of  which  are 
hung  the  symbolical  characters  of  Christ,  A  and  fl. — Arrin- 
ghi,  Roma  Solterranea,  Tome  1. 

The  Lamb  is  introduced  in  allusion  to  "  the  Lamb  of  God  ;" 
and  as  the  sculptured  delineations  of  many  other  Baptisms 
have  three  angels,  the  single  angel  in  this  representation 
proves  that  it  is  a  work  of  the  most  remote  antiquity. 


213 


XIII.  CHAPEL  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY 


Internal  view  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Baptistery  in  the  Cat- 
acomb of  Pontianus,  out  of  the  gate  Portese  at  Rome. 


CHAPEL  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY. 


In  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  that  subterranean  recess 
was  appropriated  to  the  administration  of  Baptism.  This  is 
witnessed  both  by  the  source  of  living  water  which  is  still  to 
be  seen  in  it,  and  by  the  subject  of  the  picture. 

This  is  a  subject  of  "  great  interest" — and  occupies  the 
first  place  among  the  Baptisteries,  as  being  the  most  simple, 
and  perhaps,  the  most  ancient  of  these  monuments.  The 
style  of  the  paintings  shows  that  they  were  added  after  the 
place  had  been  destined  to  this  usage. 

"  It  is  situated  at  Rome,  out  of  the  Porta  Portese  :  in  a 
place  called  Monte  Verde  ;  there  is  still  seen  the  bason  of  run- 
ning water  which  served  to  administer  Baptism  in  the  ear- 
liest times  of  the  church  ;  from  the  first  to  the  fourth  century." 

This  may  be  considered  one  of  the  first  Baptisteries  of  the 
Christians  ;  as  is  evidently  proved  by  the  painting  in  fresco, 
executed  on  the  wall  at  the  farther  end  ;  the  subject  of  which 
is  the  Baptism  of  Jesus  Christ. — This  place  was  undoubtedly 
a  Catacomb  of  the  Christians  in  the  first  century  ;  and  also  a 
Baptistery  from  the  very  earliest  period.  The  spring  still 
flows  whence  issued  the  water  in  which  the  converts  from 
heathenism  renounced  their  idols.  The  basin  cut  in  the 
rock  in  which  the  converts  stood  yet  exists,  while  the  sacred 
name  and  rite  consecrated  their  transition  to  a  renewed  life. 
How  awful  is  this  subterranean  retreat !  This  was  the  deposi- 
tory of  all  that  could  die  of  holy  martyrs,  who  held  fast  their 
profession  even  in  death.  The  Christian  symbol  still  marks 
where  the  sufferers  rest  in  peace.  An  inscription  thus 
imports —  ****  "  Who  received  the  crown  of  martyrdom  ."  the 
dust  barely  retains  the  form  of  a  skeleton  ;  time  having  almost 
obliterated  its  last  remains. —  ****  "  Who  was  decapitated  ;" 
the  skull  separated  from  the  bones  of  the  trunk,  with  the 
guilty  instrument  by  the  side  of  it,  tells  the  whole  history. — 


216  CHAPEL  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY. 

The  phial  tinged  with  blood,  half  way  up  to  another  sepul- 
chral monument,  speaks  louder  than  a  thousand  voices,  that 
the  Christian  whom  it  was  designed  to  commemorate  sealed 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel  by  his  death. 

By  examining  the  engraved  illustrations  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  description,  we  may  trace  some  incidents  of  its 
history.  It  was  a  Baptistery  before  it  was  a  Sepulchre  ;  for 
originally  the  walls  of  the  small  chapel  which  does  not  ex- 
ceed six  feet  square  were  carried  up  to  the  ceiling  ;  Avhich 
formed  a  narrow,  cell-like,  but  complete  room. 

But  when  it  was  formed  into  a  burial-place,  the  rock  was 
cut  away  from  the  upper  part  and  a  portion  of  the  sides, 
leaving  the  remaining  part  of  the  faces  of  the  Baptistery  pro- 
jecting about  eighteen  inches.  Those  sepulchres  were  form- 
ed at  the  time  of  persecution ;  yet  their  inscriptions  do  not 
exhibit  any  mark  by  which  the  date  can  be  obtained.  The 
first  persecution  took  place  under  Nero,  A.  D.  64  ;  but  it  is 
scarcely  admissible,  that  Baptism  was  administered  at  that 
period  in  any  other  place  than  private  houses.  There  could 
be  no  cause  for  subterranean  privacy.  The  next  violent 
persecution  at  Rome  was  during  the  reign  of  Trajan,  A.  D. 
107  ;  and  the  Christians  then  must  have  found  the  continual 
necessity  of  the  most  absolute  secrecy  on  numerous  occasions  ; 
for  their  "  superstition,^''  as  it  was  denominated,  had  been 
embraced  by  many  dignified  persons  as  well  as  by  a  multitude 
of  other  classes  of  the  people. 

The  Baptistery  therefore  may  justly  be  dated  before  the 
latter  end  of  the  first  century.  If  the  reader  will  examine 
the  plan,  he  will  observe  a  small  recess  of  about  two  feet  in 
depth  and  width,  just  sufficient  to  hold  one  person  only : — and 
there  undoubtedly  stood  the  person  Avho  administered  the  or- 
dinance. It  could  serve  for  no  other  use  :  and  evidently 
was  cut  for  that  purpose.  It  follows,  that  Baptism  was  not 
there  administered  by  plunging;  but  as  the  accompanying 
picture  bears  testimony,  by  pouring  on  the  head  of  the  convert. 
Yet  this  will  not  decide  whether  the  convert  did  or  did  not 
there  receive  a  previous  ablution.  This  Baptistery  then 
agrees  with  every  instance  known,  in  witnessing  that  the  ad- 
ministrator did  not  enter  the  water  :  and  so  far  the  conclusion 
is  established  on  the  rock  itself. 

We  cannot  say  as  much  for  the  sepulchres  that  may  date 
from  A.  D.  107,  or  A.  D.  169,  or  A.  D.  202.  In  235  to  238, 
a  persecution  raged  ;  and  again  in  the  year  257,  in  which 
many  churches  built  by  Christians  were  destroyed.     The 


CHAPEL  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY.  217 

last  was  under  Dioclesian  in  305.  Those  Sepulchres  then 
ascend  to  the  third  century.  The  medium  would  place 
them  from  about,  A.  D.  202  to  235.  The  rock  is  cut  away 
over  where  the  picture  is  now  placed  ;  and  it  was  a  custom 
of  the  earlier  Christians,  to  replace  such  ornaments,  where 
they  had  before  existed.*  The  Painter  of  this  baptism  cer- 
tainly was  a  Christian  ;  for  to  have  employed  any  "  Heathen 
sculptor  accustomed  to  represent  Jupiter  and  Priapus,"  would 
have  placed  a  most  dangerous  secret  in  his  power ;  a  secret 
which  reward,  interest,  loyalty,  duty  and  religion  would 
incessantly  urge  him  to  reveal  :  which  would  have  insured 
the  destruction  of  the  whole  family,  or  society,  on  whose 
premises  the  private  chapel  was  detected,  with  all  the  list  of 
the  Baptized.  The  Artist  might  be  a  mere  dauber,  as  a 
Painter,  yet  an  excellent  Christian ;  and  that  ansAvers  every 
cavil.  The  inferiority  of  his  talents  prevented  M.  d'Agin- 
court,  from  strictly  estimating  the  date  of  his  performance. 
It  is  bad,  but  not  too  bad  for  a  Christian  slave  of  the  second 
century  :  and  of  equal  date  with  the  conversion  of  this  Bap- 
tistery into  a  Catacomb.  I  have  chosen  this  picture  of  Ancient 
Baptism,  because  as  an  example  it  speaks  for  itself,  beyond 
controversy  ;  because  it  agrees  with  all  other  ancient  repre- 
sentations known  ;  because  the  action  of  the  Baptist  is  clearly 
that  oi pouring  :  and  because  it  is  much  older  than  any  copy 
of  the  Gospels  now  in  existence.  It  is  two  centuries  older 
than  those  venerable  Manuscripts,  the  Alexandrian  and  Vatican 
copies  ;  and  is  one  of  the  earliest  possible  monuments  of 
Christianity  that  can  be  now  remaining.  But  it  is  not  the 
first  of  the  kind.  It  is  a  repetition  of  an  idea  borrowed  from 
elsewhere,  and  may  even  be  a  repetition  of  a  picture  painted 
in  the  same  place,  previous  to  its  enlargement  for  a  Catacomb. 
The  man  who  can  contemplate  this  most  venerable  scene, 
these  holy  remains,  without  feeling  an  awe  stealing  over  his 
spirit — who  can  realize  to  himself  the  horrors  of  persecution 
raging  in  the  world  above — the  ardour  of  a  convert  descending 
with  solemn  alacrity  to  acknowledge  a  profession  of  the  name 
of  Jesus,  unmoved  by  the  surrounding  graves  of  parents — ■ 
acquaintance — countrymen — perhaps  deriving  fresh  vigour 
from  recollection  of  their  fortitude  and  felicity,  under  excru- 
ciating  torments — determined  through  the  grace  of  God  to 

•  Buonarotti  says,  "  There  is  a  picture  and  a  like  history  included 
in  the  Baptism  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  an  ancient  Baptistery  in  the  cemetery 
of  Pontianus  out  of  the  Porta  Portese  at  Rome."  It  was  discovered 
in  1687. 

19 


318  CHAPEL  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY. 

live  a  new  life,  or  to  leave  a  dying  testimony  in  his  turn  ;  and 
thus  to  verify  the  principle,  that  "  the  blood  of  the  Martyrs  is 
the  seed  of  the  church  :" — the  man  who  can  realize  this 
scene  and  remain  unmoved,  has  little  of  the  feelings  of  Chris- 
tianity. He  may  be  more  orthodox  than  the  illinformed  who 
uncovers  his  head,  and  in  a  paroxysm  of  admiration  exclaims, 
Sancte,  Sancte,  ora  pro  nobis  ! — but  he  knows  nothing  of 
Christian  sympathy  ;  and  nothing  of  the  communion  of  saints  ! 
Yet  in  this  very  seclusion,  where  the  light  of  day  never 
entered,  where  fallacious  ornaments  were  useless  and  crim- 
inal, where  the  congregation  was  composed  of  a  far  greater 
number  of  dead  than  of  living,  where  departed  spirits,  if 
departed  spirits  re-visit  this  lower  world,  were  the  only  wit- 
nesses, and  where  God  the  Supreme,  and  the  exalted  Saviour 
were  all  the  objects  that  could  he  adored,  there  we  find  one 
of  these  pictures.  For  what  purpose  was  it  placed  in  that 
subterraneous  vault,  if  not  to  instruct  the  administrator  and 
the  convert,  that  thus  their  Lord  himself  was  baptized  in 
Jordan  ? — that  duty  led  them  to  be  thus  conformed  to  this 
part  of  the  image  of  Christ ;  that  it  became  them  "  thus  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness  ?" — This  picture  announces  Baptism 
as  the  beginning  of  the  profession  of  Christ  and  the  end  is 
denoted  by  the  Crux  Gemmata,  the  cross  in  glory  ;  which 
with  the  A  and  /2,  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  points  to  that 
better  world,  to  which  all  who  there  were  baptized,  and  all 
who  were  buried  there,  directed  their  ardent  wishes,  their 
sincere  and  steadfast  profession^  and  their  deathless  HOPE  ! 


TEXTS    OF    SCRIPTURE 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  PRECEDING 


"FACTS   AND   EVIDENCES." 


GENESIS. 

Page 

Leviticus  liv:  6,  16,  51, 

-ff. 

Genesis  vii, 

42 

Leviticus  xvi  :  6,   . 

116 

Genesis  vii  :  1, 

33,87 

Leviticus  xvi:  14,  15, 

134 

Genesis  ix:  21, 

'33 

NUMBERS. 

Genesis  xv :  1 7, 

72 

Numbers  ix  :  15,    . 

33 

Genesis  xvi :  2, 

42 

Numbers  xvi :  27,  32, 

43 

Genesis  xviii :  10,  25, 

72 

Numbers  xviii :  11, 

43 

Genesis  xviii :  19, 

43,87 

Numbers  xviii :  31, 

87 

Genesis  xxiv :  67, 

33 

Numbers  xix:  11,  22, 

133 

Genesis  xxviii:  18, 

18 

Numbers  xix  :  16, 

133 

Genesis  xxx  :  1,  2, 

41 

Numbers  xix:  17,  . 

132 

Genesis  xxx :  3. 

42 

Numbers  xix;  18,  . 

122 

Genesis  xxxiv:  30, 

87 

Numbers  xix :  19,  ; 

133 

Genesis  xxxix :  5, 

90 

Numbers  xxiv:  5,  7, 

163 

Genesii  xl, 

42 

DEUTERONOMY. 

Genesis  xli :  40, 

90 

Deuteronomy  v:  30, 

33 

Genesis  xlvi :  5, 

88 

Deuteronomy  xii:  7, 

87 

Genesis  xlvi :  6,  26,  27, 

87 

Deuteronomy  xiv :  26, 

87 

Genesis  xlvi :  26,    . 

87 

Deuteronomy  xv:  20, 

87 

Genesis  xlvi :  27,  31, 

42 

Deuteronomy  xxv :  9, 

42,88 

EXODUS. 

Deuteronomy  xxvi  :  11, 

43 

Exodus  i:  1, 

88 

Deuteronomy  xxix:  10,  1 

76 

Exodus  i  :  21, 

38,41 

Deuteronomy  xxxiii:  24, 

123 

Exodus  xii  :  22,      . 

122 

JOSHUA. 

Exodus  xii :  48, 

82 

Joshua  iii :  15, 

123 

Exodus  xiv, 

118 

Joshua  iii :  15,  17,  . 

116 

Exodus  xiv:  19,      . 

.        131 

Joshua  v:  2,  7, 

22 

Exodus  xiv:  21,  29, 

115 

Joshua  viii :  3,  4,    • 

76 

Exodus  XV :  8, 

131 

Joshua  ix :  23, 

73 

Exodus  xxix, 

18 

RUTH. 

Exodus  xxxiv:  16, 

15 

Ruth  ii:  14, 

123 

LEVITICUS. 

Ruth  iv :  12, 

44 

Leviticus  iv :  6, 

.        122 

I  SAMUEL. 

Leviticus  iv  :  17,    . 

122 

1  Samuel  i  :  28,      . 

96 

Leviticus  ix  :  9,      . 

122 

1  Samuel  ii  :  3, 

43 

Leviticus  xi :  32,    . 

122 

1  Samuel  ii  :  11,     . 

96 

Leviticus  xiv  :  6,    . 

116 

1  Samuel  ii ;  33,      . 

88 

220 


TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


Page 


Page 


1  Samuel  x:  1, 

18 

Psalm  ex  :  3, 

20 

1  Samuel  xiv:  1,    . 

19 

Psalm  ciiii  :  9,      . 

.    43,88 

1  Samuel  xiv:  27, 

123 

Psalm  cxivii  : 

42 

II  SAMUEL. 

Psalm  cxxviii :  3, 

41 

2  Samuel  v  :  11,  29, 

41 

PROVERBS. 

2  Samuel  rii:  11,  16, 

43 

Proverbs  vi  :  31,    • 

90 

2  Samuel  vii:  16,  18,25,29, 

88 

CANTICLES. 

2  Samuel  vii  :  27,   . 
2  Samuel  xii :  8.     . 

41 
90 

Canticles  viii :  7,    • 

90 

2  Samuel  xii:  11,  . 

43 

ISAIAH. 

I  KINGS. 
1  Kings  vii:  1,6,8,9.       . 

33 

Isaiah  vii  :  15, 
Isaiah  xi  :  15, 
Isaiah  xiii  :  16, 

146 
118 
43 

1  Kings  xi  :  38,      . 

41 

88 
90 

Isaiah  xxi  :  4, 

128 

1  Kings  xiii  :  2,      . 
1  Kings  xiii :  8,      . 

Isaiah  xxiii  :  3, 

.        160 

1  Kings  xvii :  8,  16, 

42 

JEREMIAH. 

1  Kings  xviii:  32,35,        . 

132 

Jeremiah  iii  :  14,    . 

52 

II   KINGS. 

Jeremiah  xvi  :  14, 

33 

2  Kings  ii :  19,       . 
2  Kings  iii  ill,. 

162 

Jeremiah  xxxv  :  4, 

33 

116 

Jeremiah  xxxvi:  10,  12, 

20,  21,  33 

2  Kings  v:  14, 

116 

Jeremiah  li  :  13,     . 

33 

2  Kings  viii :  15,    . 

123 

EZEKIEL. 

2  Kings  x:  1,  5,      . 

87 

Ezekiel  iv  :  6, 

92 

2  Kings  li :  17,       • 

77 

Ezekiel  xvii  :  5,  8, 

.        160 

2  Kings  xxiii  :  8,  13, 

33 

Ezekiel  xii  :   10,     . 

.        163 

I  CHRONICLES. 

Ezekiel  xxiii  :  15, 

127 

I  Chronicles  ii :  10, 

33 

Ezekiel  xxxii  :  14, 

33 

1  Cbronicles  xvii  :  23—25, 

41,88 

Ezekiel  xliii  :  2,     . 

159 

1  Chronicles  xxix  :  19,      . 

33 

DANIEL. 

II    CHRONICLES. 

Daniel  iv  :  23,  25,  33, 

115 

2  Chronicles  xxi :  17, 

90 

Daniel  iv  :  33, 

.        132 

2  Chronicles  xxiii  :  16,      . 

77 

Daniel  v  :  21, 

115 

2  Chronicles  xxxi :  14,      . 

75 

AMOS. 

EZRA. 

Amos  iii  :  1, 

33 

Ezra  X  :  3-14,       . 

16 

ZEPHANIAH. 

NEHEMIAH. 

Zephaniah  1:9,     . 

33 

Nehemiah  ix  :  11   . 

115 

MATTHEW. 

ESTHER. 

Matthew  ii  :  11, 

31 

Esther  viii :    17,     . 

73 

Matthew  iii:  8, 

142 

JOB. 

Matthew  iii  :  11,     . 

112 

Jobix  :  21, 

116 

Matthew  ix  :  6, 

32 

Job  IX  :  28, 

43 

Matthew  X  :  42,      . 

18 

PSALMS. 

Matthew  xi  :  12,    . 

20 

Psalm  xviii :  16,     . 

160 

Matthew  xiii :  56,  . 

50 

Psalm  1:5, 

72 

!Vratthew  xviii  :  3, 

17 

Psalm  Ixviii  :  6,     . 

43 

Matthew  xix  :  13, 

.     17,77 

Psalm  Ixviii:  23,    . 

123 

Matthew  xxi  :  15,  . 

18 

Psalm  Ixxvii  :  18, 

160 

Matthew  xxiii  :  14, 

32 

Psalm  Ixxxiv  :  3,   . 

30 

Matthew  xxiv  :  17, 

33 

Psalm  xciii  :  4,       . 

160 

Matthew  xxvi  :  12, 

171 

Psalm  civ  :  17,       • 

30 

Matthew  xxvi  :  23, 

111 

Psalm  cv  :  21, 

90 

Matthew  xxviii :  19, 

.    20,86 

TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


Mark 

i  : 

4, 

Mark 

1:8/ 

Mark 

ii  : 

11, 

Mark 

ii  : 

42, 

Mark 

vi : 

3, 

Mark 

vii 

:  4, 

Mark 

vii 

:  4,  8,      . 

Mark 

vii 

:8, 

Mark 

X  : 

13. 

Mark 

X  : 

16, 

Mark 

X  : 

38,  39,     . 

Mark 

xii 

:  40, 

Mark 

xii 

:  15, 

Mark 

xiv 

:  8, 

Mark 

xiv 

:  20,        . 

Mark 

XV 

:  47, 

LUKE 

Luke 

i  :  27, 

Luke 

ii  : 

42, 

Luke 

iii  : 

3, 

Luke 

iii  : 

11, 

Luke 

iii  : 

16, 

Luke 

V  : 

24, 

Luke 

vii 

:  44, 

Luke 

viii 

:  42, 

Luke 

xi  -. 

38, 

Luke 

xii 

:  50, 

Luke 

xvi 

:  16, 

Luke 

xvi 

:  22, 

Luke 

xvi 

:  24, 

Luke 

xvi 

i:3  , 

Luke 

xviii  :  15, 

Luke 

XX 

:  47, 

Luke  xxiii  :  56,      . 

Luke 

XXIV  :  49, 

JOHN 

John 

I  :  29-34,       . 

Johu 

i:  32, 

John 

i:  33. 

John 

iii  : 

5, 

John 

ii  : 

23, 

John 

iii  : 

25, 

John 

iii  : 

34, 

John 

iv  : 

53, 

John 

viii 

:  35, 

John 

xii 

■  ". 

John 

xii 

23, 

John 

xiii 

:   10,  11, 

John 

xiii 

:  26, 

John 

xiv 

:  2, 

John 

xix 

:  40, 

John 

xxi 

:  15, 

Page 

80 
112 
32 
78 
19 
131 
111 
131 
17 
77 
126 
32 
33 
170 
111 
172 

33 
78 
80 
142 
112 
32 

no 

78 
115 
126 
20 
171 
111 
33 
77 
32 
172 
112 

142 

113 

85 

80 

159 

116 

207 

50 

87 

170 

173 

131 

111 

32 

172 

78 


221 

Paga 


ACTS. 


Acts  i  :  5, 
Acts  i  :  13, 
Acts  ii  :  2, 
Acts  ii  :  2,  17, 
Acts  ii  :  35, 
Acts  ii :  38, 
Acts  iv  :  27, 
Acts  V  :  6,  10, 
Acts  vii  :  10, 
Acts  viii  :  16, 
Acts  viii :  36—38, 
Acts  ix  :  17, 
Acts  ix  :  23, 
Acts  ix  :  27, 
Acts  ix  :  37, 
Acts  X  :  1 ,  5,  6, 
Acts  x  :  10, 
Acts  X  :  14.  44, 
Acts  X ;  38, 
Acts  X  :  44, 
Acts  X  :  45, 
Acts  X  :  xi. 
Acts  X  : 
Acts  xi. 
Acts  XI  : 
Acts  xi : 
Acts  xi  : 
Acts  xi 
Acts  xi 
Acts  xi 


Acts  xi :  17, 


xi  :  XV, 

11,  12,  13 

11,  17, 
12, 

12,  13. 
14, 
15, 


Acts  xii : 

Acts  XV, 

Acts  XV 

Acts  XV 

Acts  XV 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  XVI 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  xvi 

Acts  xvi  :  40,' 

Acts  xviii  :  8, 

Acts  xix  :  3, 

Acts  XX  :  6, 

Acts  xxi  :  'iO,  21, 

Acts  xxii  :  16, 

Acts  xxvi  :  10, 


12, 

1—5,  6, 

8, 

10, 

:  S'  10, 

:  15, 

:  16, 

:  28, 

:  31,  32, 

:  33, 

:  34, 


19* 


222 


TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


Page 


ROMANS. 
Romans  vi, 
Romans  vi  :  3 — 5, 
Romans  xi :  17, 
Romans  liii  :  14,   . 
Romans  xiv  :  15,    . 
Romans  xv  :  25,     • 
Romans  xvi :  1, 
Romans  xn  :  3,  5, 
Romans  xvi  :  10,  11, 

I  CORINTHIANS. 
1  Corinthians  i  :   14 — 16, 

1  Corinthians  i  :  16, 
1  Corinthians  iv  :  17, 
1  Corinthians  v  :  7,  8, 
1  Corinthians  v  :  8, 
1  Corinthians  vi  :  11, 
1  Corinthians  vii  :  12,  13, 
1  Corinthians  vii :  14,  17, 
1  Corinthians  vii  :   16, 
1  Corinthians  vii  :  29, 
1  Corinthians  x  :  2, 
1  Corinthians  xi  :  2, 
I  Corinthians  xv  :  43, 
1  Corinthians  xvi  :  10, 
1  Corinthians  xvi :  15, 
1  Corinthians  xvi  :  15,  16, 

1  Corinthians  xvi  :  19, 

II  CORINTHIANS 

2  Corinthians  1  :  21, 
2  Corinthians  vi  :  15, 

GALATIANS. 
Galatians  iv  :  9,      • 
Galatians  iv  :  28,  30, 

EPHESIANS. 
Ephesians  i  :  1, 
-^   ■  -  ■     13,     . 


11,   . 

19,  . 
19,21, 
5,  . 
21,  . 
24,  . 
26,    . 


Ephesians 
Ephesians  u 
Ephesians  ii  ; 
Ephesians  ii  : 
Ephesians  iv 
Ephesians  iv 
Ephesians  iv 
Ephesians  v  : 
Ephesians  vi  :  4,    . 

PHILIPPIANS. 
Philippians,  iii  :  3, 
Philippians,  iii  :  6, 
Philippians,  iv  :  22, 

COLOSSIANS. 

Colossians  i  :  2, 
Colossi ans  ii  :  11,  . 


Colossians  ii :  11, 
Colossians  iii  :  1, 
Colossians  iv  :  9, 
Colossians  iv  :  15, 


II  THESSALONIANS 
2  Thessalonians  ii  :  15, 
2  Thessalonians  iii  :  6, 

I  TIMOTHY. 
I  Timoihy  iii  :  4,  . 
1  Timothy  iii:  6,    . 
1  Timothy  iii:  11, 
1  Timothy  iii  :  12,  , 
1  Timothy  iv  :  12, 
1  Timoihy  v  :  4,     ; 
1  Timothy  v  :  14,   . 
1  Timothy  v  :  16,   . 

1  Timothy  vi  :  2, 

II  TIMOTHY 

2  Timothy  i  :  16,  . 
^,  ,2  Timothy  i  :  16,  18, 
-J  2  Timothy  li  :  2,     . 

11^|2  Timoihy  ii :  18,   . 
24 12  Timothy  ii  :  20    . 
1 '-^2  Timothy  iii  :  15, 
2  Timothy  iv  :  19, 

TITUS. 
Titus  i  :  6,  . 
Titus  i:  10, 
Titus  i:  11, 
Titus  iii :  5, 
Titus  iii  :  6, 

PHILEMON. 
Philemon  2, 

HEBREWS. 
Hebrews  vi  :  1,  2,  . 
Hebrews  vi  :  2, 
113  Hebrews  ix  :  6, 
110  Hebrews  ix  :  10,     • 
30  Hebrews  ix  :  13,     . 
42  Hebrews  ix  :  14,     . 
136  Hebrews  X  :  22,      . 


/3 

63 

52,  60 

61 

101 


99 


99 
146 
142 

21 

66 
74 
37 

99 
70,  110 


Hebrews  x  :  32,      . 
Hebrews  xi  :  7, 

JAMES. 
James  i  :  21, 

I  PETER. 


1  Peter  i  : 
1  Peter  ii  : 
1  Peter  iii 
1  Peter  iii 
1  Peter  iii 
1  Peter  v  : 


12, 

4,5, 
:  1, 
:  20, 

21, 
13. 


TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


223 


Page 

Page 

n  PETER. 

Revelation  ii  :  17,  . 

92 

2  Peter  i :  15, 

25 

Revelation  liii  :  1, 

92 

I  JOHN. 
1  John  ii  :  12, 

Revelation  xiv  •  1, 

92 

78 
19 

Revelation  xiv  :  2, 
Revelation  xvii  :  1,  15, 

159 
159 

1  John  ii :  27, 

Revelation  xvii :  3, 

92 

REVELATION. 

Revelation  xvii  :   14, 

99 

Revelation  i :  8,      . 

91 

Revelation  xix  :  6, 

159 

Revelation  i :  15,    . 

159 

Revelation  xix  :  13, 

.        Ill 

INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


A. 

Abiding, 

Abrahamic  Covenant, 

Abraham's  ''  House," 

Abyssinia, 

Abyssinian  Boy, 

Adult  Circumcision, 

Affusion, 

Ages  of  Life, 

Anabaptism, 

Ananias  and  Sapphira 

Ancient  Baptism, 

"      Baptisteries, 

'•      Testimony, 
Anointing, 
Anointing  at  Baptism 
Apostolic  Baptism, 
Appellatives, 

"  Faithful," 
"  Holy," 

"  "NeophytoS; 

Aquila, 
Arabs, 

Argument  entire, 
Ari&tobulus, 
Aristotle's  "  House," 

'•  Testimony, 

Arringhius, 

B. 


114 
72 
43 
144 
145 


137 
171 
166 
209 
164 
114,  171 
146 


Baptismal  Ceremonies,  . 
Fonts, 
''        Resemblances,     114, 

Baptism  and  Circumcision, 
"        "     Immersion, 
''         by  the  Syrians, 
"        consecration  to  the 
Trinity, 

Baptism  divided, 
"        eighth  day 


Page,  Page 

Baptism  explained,       .  114 

I         "        for  Circumcision,  66 

"        illustrated,       .  177 

"        instituted,        .  19 

"        of  a  boy,          .  144 

"        of  Children  in  the 

first  centuries,             •  70 

73  Baptism   of   Children    not    a 

130      "  new  affair,"  .            .  77 

82  Baptism  of  Families,      .  84 

'•  Gentiles,        .  70 

"  Holy  Ghost,  .  114 

"  "Households,"  60 

"  Infants,           .  107 

"  John,  .            .  84 

"  Light,             .  84 

"  persons  naked,  149 

lOtBanrKTixos,                                .  HI 

97jBaptisms  under  the  Law,  134 
98  Baptism  teaches  the  Trinity,       86 

971         "       the  mode,           .  109 

104i        "      "     subjects,      .  13 

161  Baptisteries,        •           •  209 

46Ba7rrw,                          .                 •  HI 

14  Biel  on  Oikos,       .            •  33 

53  Bird  Baptized,     .            •  116 

39  Bishops,               .            •  48 

87  Booth's  Sophism,             .  14 

Bpefoi,                      .              .  77 

Brethren  at  Philippi       •  59 

Brother's  widow,             .  42 

Building  a  "  House,"      .  42 

Buonarotti  on  Baptism,  152 

Burial,                  .            •  170 

"     of  Christ,             .  172 

"  Buried  in  Baptism,"    .  170 


C. 


108  Carthage  Council, 
142Casaubon, 
71  Celsus'  Ignorance, 


71 

158 


226 


Page 

215 

77 

17 

55 


"  Chapel  of  the  Baptbtry,' 

Childhood. 

Children  and  Christ 

"        of  Proselytes,  . 

"        weaned, 
Christian  Baptism, 
Christianity, 
Christian  Symbols, 
Christ's  Burial,  . 
Chrysostom, 
Church  at  Corinth, 

"         Jerusalem, 

"  Philippi, 

"      Membership  of  Chil- 
dren,    .  : 
Ciampini  on  Baptism,    . 
Cicero's  Evidence, 
Circumcision, 

"  and  Baptism, 

"  mark  of  obedi- 

ence,    . 
Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
"  Coming," 
Consecration  to  Christ,  . 

the  Trinity,  86,  108 
Construction  of  Baptisteries,  '209, 
Contemporaries    of    Origen's 

Family, 
Cornelius, 

Corresponding  Terms,  . 
Council  of  Carthage, 
Covenant  of  Circumcision, 
"  Cradle-Child," 
Crispus,   . 
Crucifixion, 
Cyprian,  . 


177 
67 
90 

172 
71 
61 
69 
52 

96 
203 
36 
66 
83 

73 
92 
113 

18 


27 
51 

116 
71 
72 
82 
53 

174 
43,  137 


Daciana,  Deaconess, 
Dathan  and  Abiram, 
Deaconesses, 
Deacons, 
Dead  washed, 
Definition  by  Baptists, 
Definitive  Interment, 
Deylingius, 
Dipping,  . 
Disciples  of  John, 
Distinction  of  Meats, 
Distribution  of  Ages, 
"  Divers  Baptisms," 
Division  of  Baptism, 
Doctrine  of  Baptisms, 
Doddridge  on  Stephanas 


■'  Domus,' 
Dorcas,    . 


Page 
35 
172 


Early  opinions,  .           .  74 

Ebionites,             .            ,  86 

Egyptian  Church,           .  164 

E/iffaTTTU),                        .                    .  Ill 

Engrafting,          .            .  173 

Engravings,         .            ,  179 

I.  Baptism  of  Jesus  Christ,  181 

II.  Baptism  of  Jesus  Christ 

in  Jordan,     .           .  183 

III.  Jesus  baptized  in  Jordan,  185 

IV.  Baptism  of  Christ    "  187 

V.  Christ  baptized         "  189 

VI.  Ancient  Bath,       .  191 

VII.  Baptism  of  King  and 
aueen,     .            .  193 

VIII.  Administration  of 

Baptism,           .  195 

IX.  Baptism  outside  of  the 
Church,     .            .  197 

X.  Laurentius  baptizing  Ro- 
manus,         .            .  199 

XI.  Baptism  of  Constantine,  201 

XII.  "        Christ  in 
Jordan,      .            .  211 

XIII.  Chapel  of  the  Baptis- 
tery,      .           .  213 

Ennn,       ,            •             .  159 

Epiphanus,          .            .  86 

Ethiopia,              •            .  144 

Eucharist,           .            .  145 

Eunuch  and  Philip,        .  143 
Eusebius,             .            .      34,  103 

Expressions  of  Scripture,  113 


F. 


Faithful,"  title  of  children, 
Falling," 
Family,     . 

Feelings  for  Children, 
Fidus  on  Baptism, 
"  Filling," 
First  Christians, 
118   122  f^^'^^s  as  Symbols, 
84^''^'^^^  for  Baptism, 
148  Forms  ofBaptism, 
g2  Prey's  Testimony, 

143  G. 

1.35|Gaius, 
63  Genealogy  of  Israelites, 


113 

47 

16 

71 

114 

22 

102 

308 

169 

78 


227 


Gentile  Christians, 

.     -II 

Jailof  at  Philippi, 

"li 

Gill  on  Circumcision, 

72 

Jericho, 

162 

"  Giving," 

113 

Jerom  on  the  Nazarenes 

68 

Greek  Church,    . 

167 

Jewish  ceremonies, 

171 

Gregory  Nazianzen 

82 

"        children. 

78 

"       proselytes, 

141 

H. 

"       sympathies, 

15 

Hebrew  Christians, 

.      67,  166 

John  Baptized  Infants, 

84 

Hebrews  and  Gentiles, 

65 

John's  Baptism    . 

142 

Hebrew  term  "  Baptize, 

116 

"       Disciples, 

87 

Hegesippus,         .            .              67 
Hes}'chius  on  OtKo^  and  OiKia,     32 

Judaism, 

Justin  Martyr,     . 

67 
70,  91,  136 

Hezekiah  oa  the  Genealogy,       75 

L. 

"Holy,"  title  of  Children,           97 

"House,"            .            .             28 
and  Household,"    28, 37 

"       builded,            .             42 

Linen  Cloth, 

"  Little  ones,"  -*  . 

145 

17,76 

"       for  Family 

103 

Logical  maxim,  . 

160 

"Household,"      . 

28 

Lord's  supper,     . 

83 

"       of  Stephanas 

62 

Lydia, 

57 

House  plan, 

39 

Husband  and  Wife, 

21 

M. 

Hydata  Polla,      . 

160 

Maimonides, 

141 

I, 

"  Many  Waters," 

159 

IXOYC, 

94 

Mark  the  Evangelist, 
Maronites, 

26 
165 

Ignorance  of  Celsus, 
Illustrations  of  Baptism, 

67 

Maundrell's  Travels, 

162 

177 

Maxim  in  Logic, 

161 

Immersion, 

.    109,  122 

Meats,      . 

148 

•'           and  Baptism 
Importance  of  Truth 

143 
109 

Metaphorical  Children, 
"            Texts, 

89 
146,  169 

Infancy, 

77 

Mode  of  Baptism, 

109 

Infant  Baptism    . 

65 

Montfaucon, 

179 

Infant  Baptism  Apostoli 

c  and 

Muscovites, 

168 

Universal, 

107 

Mussulman  Boy, 

;.      144 

Infant  Circumcision, 

73 

Infants, 

36,44 

N. 

"     baptized  by  Johr 

84 

Inferences, 

118 

iN'aaman, 

116 

Inscriptions, 

98,  102 

Narcissus, 

53 

Institution  of  Baptism, 

19 

Nazarenes, 

68 

Intermarriages,    . 

15 

Nebuchadnezzar, 

115 

Interment, 

170 

"  Neophytos," 

104 

Interpretation,      . 

29 

Nestorians, 

165 

Introductory  Notice, 

5 

Newell  on  Baptism, 

166 

IreniEus  on  Infants, 

80 

Noah  in  the  Ark, 

37,48 

"       "    Tradition 

25 

Ishmael's  circumcision 

72 

0 

Israelite  genealogy, 

75 

Israelites  in  Jordan, 

116 

OiKia,         . 

30,  37,  87 

"        "     the  Red  Se 

a,         115 

OiKof,        .            .        28, 

29,  47,  87 

Opinions,  early,  . 

74 

J. 

Origen  on  Baptism, 

23,26 

Jacob  and  Rachel, 

41 

Origen's  Family, 

27 

«'    leaving  Canaan, 

42 

Origin  of  the  Work, 

13 

228 


Qcrrep,         . 

Page 
112 

Sprinkling, 

132,  1^4 

Overwhelming,  . 

118 

126 

Staining, 
Stephanas, 

127 
52 

P. 

Subjects  of  Baptism, 
Submersion, 

13 
120 

UavotKi,      . 

88 

Sulpitius  Severus, 

69 

Parables, 

140 

Symbols  of  Baptism, 
Synonyms  of  Baptism,  . 

90 

Ilapa&oaii, 

91 

113,117 

Partial  Immersion, 

124 

Syrian  Baptism, 

165 

Passover, 

83 

"       Churches, 

164 

Pearce  on  Stephanas, 

63 

Pentecost, 

112 

T. 

Perversion  of  Terms,     . 

109 

Peter  at  Cesarca, 

148 

Temporal  blessings  with  Cir- 

Philip and  the  Eunnch, 

143 

cumcision, 

73 

Plan  of  a  "  House," 

39 

Terms  interchanged, 

117 

Planting, 

173 

Tertullian, 

.      22, 97 

Pliny,      . 

158 

Texts  of  Scripture, 

219 

Plunging, 

120 

Timothy, 

21 

Polycarp, 

25 

Tradition, 

24,91 

Positive  precepts, 

150 

Transplantation, 

174 

Pouring, 

114 

,130 

Trinity  taught  by  Baptism,          86 

Principle  of  Circumcision  in 

Truth,      . 

109 

Baptism, 

74 

Priscilla, 

101 

u. 

Proselytes, 

55 

Yiara  iroWa, 

160 

R. 

Union  with  Christ, 

172 

Rebaptism, 

87 

W. 

Reception  of  Eucharist, 

145 

Resemblance  of  Baptisms 

114 

,172 

Wall's  Testimony, 

154,  155 

Ritual  Observances, 

134 

Washing, 

171 

"      Purification, 

116 

, "         of  a  corpse, 

133 

Robinson  on  Baptism,    . 

153 

155 

Water  Baptism, 

115 

Rules  for  interpretation. 

29 

,115 

"      of  Separation, 

133 

Ruth's  "  House," 

44 

Waters  of  Jericho, 

162 

Ryland's  Statement, 

159 

Weaning  of  children, 
Whitby  on  Stephanas, 
White  Linen  cloth. 

76 
62 

S. 

146 

White  Stone, 

92 

Sabians,  . 

84 

Words  interchanged, 

117 

Salt  on  Baptism, 

144 

"      synonymous. 

113 

Scripture  Terms, 

113 

Sealing,    . 

114 

Y. 

Sending  down,    . 

113 

Septuagint  on  Infants,     . 

87 

Years  of  Life,    . 

81 

Sepulchral  Inscriptions, 

93 

Shedding, 

113 

z. 

Sitting,     . 

114 

Sophism  by  Booth, 

14 

Zoilus  and  Infant, 

137 

Date  Due 

0C17T 

i 

1 

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liilki 


1    1012  01021   4833 


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